Midnight Hound
by Multiversal
Summary: A Houndoom has a lot of secrets hidden in the past, living life in the forest with a terrible memory as well as reputation. In order to find answers, he, a Vulpix, and a Lycanroc travel across Forla Island. Maybe time and friendship will tell all of those secrets. (Possibly.) Rated M for violence, language, and adult themes. Pokemon x Pokemon, possible lemons. (Maybe. I'm lazy...)
1. Prolouge

**Midnight Hound**

 **Prologue**

A warm night was upon the forest, the moonlight would always shine through the dense trees. Things happened to be as quiet as they normally were, pokemon scurrying around foraging for food or whatever they need before heading back to their dens as the nocturnal pokemon were starting to rise from their daytime sleep.

Nothing seemed to be going wrong, that was at least until midnight came. Whoever was out at this time of night, disappeared from sight.

A pichu, running faster than her small feet could move, tripped over, falling on her face with a loud thump.

"M-mom!" She cried, only to have no one answer.

The sound of crunching leaves and falling twigs lingered not far behind. The pichu felt helpless so much that her limbs became numb. The sound came closer.

The silhouette of a large animal could be seen not far away.

The pichu cried out again as loud as she could, the silhouette of the creature was finally revealed as it stepped where the moonlight shined its brightest.

The animal, was something that most called the animal from hell. A houndoom.

This houndoom was...different, though. His horns not only gleamed from the moonlight but they were glowing with the essence of what seemed like a blue aura so were the other skeleton parts the houndoom had.

A red symbol, was engraved on his forehead. Not that anyone here cared nor knew what that symbol actually meant.

Around here, all that mattered was that if a houndoom lurked near, get the heck out of there!

The houndoom did not make any movement towards the pichu who only sat there and cried.

Dusk, was this houndoom's name. His fur darker than a night without stars. His claws and size alone made it look like he could slice through any pokemon with pure ease.

Despite those facts, his plan wasn't to hurt the poor pichu at all.

He could see the fear in her eyes, oddly enough, that's the main detail that he focused on. He felt as if he felt that emotion before too.

Dusk slowly advanced towards the pokemon, of course this made the pichu more frightened.

"P-Please don't h-hurt me!" The tiny mouse sobbed. Dusk only walked over to her, nudging the pichu with his nose to help her up to her feet.

The small mouse gazed at Dusk, her face still giving a look of fear, but this time, with confusion. She didn't understand, she thought that she would surely be mauled, instead the pichu only received the houndoom's mercy.

Dusk was about to walk off, but before the situation could have been said and done, a raichu pounced onto the scene, who happened to be the pichu's mother.

"Get away from her, you dog from hell!" The raichu screamed, releasing a powerful thunder attack towards Dusk, which was coming in fast. The hound seemed to make no attempt to dodge.

The thunder struck Dusk, who took the whole attack, grunting.

Dusk hit the ground, his fur giving off smoke. Seeing that the dog was not getting up, the raichu grabbed her offspring, dashing off into the depths of the forest.

As the raichu carried her, the pichu looked back towards Dusk, who seemed to be unconscious.

Soon as the two electric types were disappeared, Dusk's eyes slowly opened.

The canine raised his head and stood up to his four paws. It was like he didn't take any damage at all. Though, his fur was still giving off smoke. He had his own remedy for that.

Dusk faced towards his body, starting to breath across his fur. The bristles of his fur started to freeze unnaturally, his singed fur was encased in ice. It was supernatural for a houndoom.

The canine shook his fur out, making ice shards scatter everywhere, stabbing into the surrounding trees and rocks. Now it was really like he wasn't attacked at all.

This wasn't just any houndoom, as if he wasn't already an outcast. An untold mystery of this houndoom was that he was never able to spit flames like others of his kind. Of course, this did not mean that he was weak.

In fact, it was the exact opposite. He was actually considered the strongest Pokemon in the forest, yet he wouldn't bother to show it.

He was the outcast of this forest, wherever he went it seems, no friends or family. He didn't have anyone to look out for and he was the only one who could look out for himself…

It was no easy life, and things would surely not get easier as time went on, but it was his life. The life of the Midnight Hound.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: So...the actual story chapters will be longer than this, as this is only a prologue, mainly meant to give a bit of insight on Dusk, who is the main character. The story will get better later on, with more action, adventure, and...mature content.**_

 _ **Thanks for reading and if you wish, leave feedback.**_


	2. A Change of Plans

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 1: The Actual Beginning**_

* * *

 _ **Sometime ago…**_

A certain peculiar looking Houndour pup was just waking up from a peaceful midnight slumber in his cave. His parents were nowhere to be seen in the area. As he looked around he only saw one relative who happened to still be asleep, a male evolved version of the Dark Pokemon, or simply just called, Houndoom. The Houndoom didn't seem too old, possibly an older teen. The Houndour gave a barely audible yip before he ran over to the dozing hound and pounced on him, making the older dog jump up in a flash.

"Bro! Wake up! Wake up!" howled Houndour, though the sound of his voice wasn't loud enough to actually be considered a howl. The larger canine yawned being forced to wake up,showing his huge fangs compared to the Houndour's tiny ones.

"Hey Dusk...What's the rush to…" He attempted to finish before giving another groggy yawn. "...get up so quickly…?" The Houndoom finished examining outside the cave realizing that it was only just beginning to get to dawn.

"I couldn't sleep knowing that today's the day you said you are going to teach me how to use my moves!" Yipped the excited Houndour practically bouncing around the large cave by this point.

The Houndoom realized that he did promise to take his little brother out to finally train, but he was so tired, and it was so early…He tried to find an excuse to get a few more hours of sleep in. "How's about we wait 'til like midday, okay buddy?" He said in the nicest tone possible to his beloved little bro.

Dusk's mouth began to wobble, and his pupils dilated to an undefinable size as his eyes watered. His older brother already knew what this could mean if he didn't do something quickly. "M-m-m-" Tiny Dusk began to say making the Houndoom panic.

"W-wait Dusk-" The older brother tried to say, _but it was already too late_.

" _ **MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!**_ " The Houndour wailed to the top of his lungs making himself quite heard.

His older bro thought fast and hoisted his brother up on his back and running out of the cave. "Alright, alright you win. I'll go train you." Shushed the Houndoom trying to stifle another yawn as Dusk cheered and hugged his older brother on the back, little did he know how long he would have his brother after that…

* * *

 _ **Present Day…**_

Dusk woke up, now taking a look around his surroundings…

Dusk, was that Houndoom's name. That abnormal Houndoom living an abnormal life style. Only Houndoom to be able to breath ice instead of fire. He lives within the woods of Mystic Forest, current home to over seventy species of Pokemon. Located on the world map on Forla Island, which isn't really too close to any region in particular.

Dusk was currently thinking over a dream that he just had, he couldn't really tell what it was about because it was really blurred out to him. It was obvious by now that he was nowhere near the same as his puppy self though. He was more quiet, and preferred to be alone more than anything. Who could blame him?

He didn't have too many memories of his puppyhood, he didn't really remember how the members of his pack even looked. Did he even have friends…? Sometimes a faint memory would come back, maybe in a dream or something, but for some reason he could not remember unless it could hit him in a much stronger way. It didn't really matter, today was a different day but with the same bull shit to come with it.

Everyday was a never breaking cycle that would never cease. He would have a weird dream, wake up to nothing new. He would then proceed to get some food, most preferably large fruit, he would only eat other Pokemon if they were already dead. Of course, being seen dragging an already dead corpse back to home would always strike the wrong thought into one's head. Then he would train, for hours, nothing better to do… His training really has made him a formidable Houndoom compared to most. Course being strong doesn't really get you anything but even more fear. Then he would just stay hidden away until midnight came, when many Houndoom love to be out, and a warning signal for anyone hearing their grim howls.

The cycle that came everyday to what this Houndoom thinks is considered _**normal**_ , no one would care how special he was or what his intentions were for anyone he came across. Nothing would change… Until today that is…

He could feel it, even the feeling bothered him in his sleep earlier. _That feeling…_ You know, that one that makes your back hair stand (Don't know if you have that. ( _ **It's okay if you do I understand.**_ ) Anyway, _**the feeling of being watched**_ … Dusk was in no way a fan of this sudden new feeling.

He glared through the area that he currently called home. This area was mostly surrounded by dense trees, thick thorn bushes were in between so nothing traveling on ground would ever come here, so it must be up in the trees. Dusk listened carefully, tuning out any sounds of water or even nearby Pokemon to hear whatever was up there. " _Whoever this is, they are not good at being quiet…_ ", thought the Dark Pokemon catching a glimpse of an orange light emitting from within the trees…

" _Or hiding their shiny state."_ He thought as well, Dusk didn't know much about them, but shiny Pokemon almost always give off a strange glow or twinkle, it is possible to conceal it, but this guy obviously didn't know how to keep it under control.

Dusk walked forward towards right where the thick thorn bushes were before he reeled his head back preparing himself.

" _What is he doing?_ " Thought the figure who thought it was well concealed until the moment when it realized that the Houndoom was facing itself...That's when it noticed itself, and he forgot to tone down its appearance. (Even then Dusk would've still caught it.) " _Oh no!"_ It thought before automatically making a break for it through the trees escaping Dusk.

Noticing this, Dusk reeled his head back down deciding that it was unnecessary to use his Roar to scare it out now, but he held a questioned expression on his face…

"Who the hell was that?" Dusk said to himself. His voice sounded a little rough but it wasn't too deep. Like a young teen's. He shook it off, although it was odd, it was over and that's how it was. He didn't think he would have to deal with it anymore today…

 _ **Dead wrong.**_

* * *

Again and again, that same feeling of a stalker still bothered his very being but by now he already knew it wasn't just a feeling. He didn't like this, although at the same time that presence didn't seem harmful in anyway, it still was quite creepy and sooner or later he would decide to go after it. He didn't have too much patience for this though. Later that night he was collecting some berries which he stored in his own made saddle bag made of frozen parts of tree bark which poked his side a lot but he wasn't bothered.

 _Then he felt it, for the last time-_

The Houndoom suddenly bursted out with mach speed heading for the trees. That same creature that watched him yipped out in fright before it started pouncing its way from tree to tree like a sly fox, looking at the figure as it made its way through the trees it did sort of made out to actually be one, one with what seemed to be six tails that its…

Unfortunately for this mystery fox, Dusk was an expert at this as well. He pounced his way upwards tree after tree as he pursued the fox, without breaking a sweat. " _Not a chance i'll let you get away."_ He thought easily gaining onto the fox and he made one final leap to it, thinking quickly before bringing his jaw onto one of the fox's tails. He had an easy win, the fox now seemed to have calmed his glowing from before. He heard whimpers coming from it so he decided to get this over with quickly.

He repositioned his grip on the creature before hopping down to where the moonlight shined. You could see now that this was a Pokemon, and it was a shiny male Vulpix with blue pupils. Although Dusk already could tell this from the beginning.

Dusk released it onto the comforting ground and he looked at Dusk. The look he gave was unknown to him. "You didn't hurt me...I KNEW YOU WERE SO COOL!"

Dusk tilted his head before the Vulpix was now running around him, examining him I guess. The Vulpix was in absolute awe, Dusk however was in a state of confusion. This Vulpix seemed to be somewhat of a young kid, something felt familiar about it too but Dusk shook it off for now as he grabbed the Vulpix's body by his tail (Which was actually quite strong.) and lifted him towards his head.

"Okay. Just _what_ are you talking about kid? What is your name anyway?"

"It's Ray!" It barked excitedly like the child it was, this was bothering the crap out of Dusk and he possibly would've preferred that he just left Ray alone at the start. It wasn't all his fault, after going through day after day of people spitting in your path and dissing you to hell it would be weird to have someone suddenly interested in you for once. ( _Unless you don't have emotions or something like that._ _ **I totally understand**_ _._ )

Dusk listened as the child went on. "I heard that you were evil and killed other Pokemon! I knew you weren't like that! I just knew it!" The kid slipped out of Dusk's tail and raised paw at him. "High Paw!"

Dusk had no clue of what that was, but he decided to try and go along with it and raised his paws towards Ray's, there was an obvious size difference between the two paws. The first time someone actually trusted him...why did this feel so familiar…? Dusk raised his horn when he suddenly heard something coming their way, and it wasn't something that was easily intimidated judging by the lack of uneased movements. "Hide somewhere kid." Said Dusk looking into the direction hearing heavy footsteps as they got closer.

"Why?" Ray asked apparently finding nothing wrong anywhere, but Dusk, something in him almost snapped. For some reason, he felt the need to protect this kid. He wasn't sure if he liked him but…

"Go hide now." Said Dusk in a much more stern and serious tone and Ray suddenly got the picture feeling somewhat intimidated. He ran and hid behind a tree for reasons he didn't know. Suddenly a large, dark figure came stomping into the light with a cocky grin on its face.

A large turtle, with a shell armed to two powerful cannons. It body was mostly blue, it was made clear that this was a Blastoise, not a friendly one by the looks of it. Dusk looked at it with an emotionless expression, this wasn't anything new to him as he already knew these types.

Having the reputation that he did, Dusk unwillingly and unknowingly has made quite a bit of enemies. Those of which on too many occasions would come to fight him, not for anyone's safety but for their own selfish purposes. The look on this Blastoise's face spoke no different to him.

"There you are you little shit." Grinned the huge turtle. ( _ **Am I the only one who thinks he's pretty much Bowser**_ _?)_

Dusk wasn't worried, he was as overly cocky as they came. He believed if he fought this dude and mauled him, he would surely be hated more, as if his reputation wasn't bad enough. Let alone fight in front of this child who he was sure was watching him. He decided to turn away from the Blastoise and walk away, going over to where Ray was hiding telling him to come along…

The Blastoise growled as his foe merely shrugged him off like he was nothing, if only he knew. " _Who does this mutt think he is? I will murder him."_ He thought before he gave a mighty roar. "Once I kill you I'll be in control of this forest!" The Blastoise automatically came stomping towards Dusk.

"Look out!" Screamed Ray running away as the Blastoise still came stomping their way. Dusk didn't bother to pick up his pace.

"Your greed will be your demise." Dusk said before pouncing out of the way as Blastoise rampaged tearing through many trees before stopping himself. His rage was peaked now as he glared daggers at the mutt.

"Stop messing with him!" Shouted Ray from a distance. Everyone present looked towards him as he stood somewhat bravely in front of Dusk, though his legs were shaking. Dusk glared at him, but he didn't know what to say. The only Pokemon to not only actually like him, but actually stand up for him too. There were many feeling washing through Dusk's mind before being suddenly being brought back into reality when he heard Ray's cry. Blastoise was squeezing the life out of the poor child. "I'll kill you too boy if you stand in my way!"

 _Dusk suddenly had memories flush into his head, they weren't much but they were something, whatever it was, it made him snap-_

"Get your damn hands off of him!" The Houndoom roared before he lunged onto the Blastoise, clamping his jaw into his arm and giving a good grip. The Blastoise screamed out in agony as he felt his very muscles get punctured by the dog's large fangs. The turtle dropped a weak Ray onto the ground. He watched in all as the Houndoom fought to protect him.

Dusk's eyes were burning with feral rage, the Blastoise tried to swat him off but he wasn't going to budge. Suddenly Dusk pounced off of him leaving a large gash on his shoulder which was pooling blood, doesn't mean he was done with him. Ray covered his eyes from the bloody scene. The Blastoise shed tears in his eyes from the unbearable pain that was only a plain Bite attack. He tried to move before Dusk shot ice beams towards his limbs, they were too strong to brake and Dusk neared him, his eyes were speaking no mercy. The Blastoise winced his eyes expecting the inevitable until…

" _D-don't kill him…"_ Spoke a frightened Ray.

Dusk turned his head towards him realizing he was still hurt, he would need to take him to wherever his home was.

" _P-please...He's had enough, even if he's bad."_

Dusk looked towards the Blastoise, what exactly made him go _**that**_ far? This kid somehow was a larger attachment to him than he thought, he decided to go with his former move and spared him. He walked over to the evil turtle( _Now i'm thinking he's based off of a tortoise-_ )

"Listen here and listen good. _I will tear your ass apart if I ever catch you in my eyesight, waste of flesh…_ " Dusk concluded before walking away with Dusk. The turtle laid there, pride shattered…

* * *

Later as Dusk walked with Ray he noticed his walking was very awkward. "Here Ray, on my back." Dusk said suddenly picking up the small vulpix in his tail and placing him on his back before continuing to walk.

"Was there something you were thinking about before…?" The Fox Pokemon asked seeing the lost expression on his face.

"Yeah...You know, Ray. You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age… Especially how I would act around...him. My older brother…"

"You have a brother!?" Ray asked him with the highest peak of curiosity.

" _Had_ one." Dusk emphasized. "Just, something happened before, and he's just. Not around anymore…" Dusk finished, trying to remember more but he couldn't. He only could remember how much he loved his brother, but that's only a memory…

"Oh...sorry for asking…" Apologize the fox who gave a hug to Dusk's back, making him pause for a moment. He started to remember the hugs he used to want all the time, he always wanted mom and dad to be there, his only brother. He tried, but just couldn't remember, making the dog sigh before he continued walking.

"I-It's fine...By the way. Name's Dusk. Don't think I've said that, also that you're a pretty cool kid." He said hiding his smile, the first ever smile he had in awhile, finally feeling like he found something from his cloudy past.

There was still the question, however, of what actually made Dusk lose his memory. He didn't have time to think this over for now as Ray spoke again.

"Thanks Dusk! You're like a big brother!" Ray yipped as Dusk smiled again, who doesn't want a little brother? Dusk then snapped out of it, knowing that he needed to get this kid home.

"Where do you live anyway?" Dusk asked before the kit pondered.

"I live up the mountain." Ray answered before Dusk gave the fox a quizzical look.

" _The kid is tougher than he looks to come all the way over here...But how did he even hear about me? My reputation isn't that bad, or it just might be."_ Dusk thought. "Well, kid it shouldn't take a long time but for now you need to rest and I doubt you could do that when I start running so let's just find a cave and rest for a bit." Dusk said before Ray's stomach began to rumble.

Realizing the kid was hungry he looked into his self made saddle realizing most of the berries he snagged her spilled thanks to earlier situation. There was only enough for the pup. He sat Ray down on the ground before he placed the berries in front of him. "Here, go ahead and have it." Said Dusk with a smile.

Ray didn't hold back as he ate each berry whole, although there were small so they wouldn't be too much of a challenge anyway. Dusk didn't really have a problem sharing, for a dog with hell coming his way everyday he was really nice, although he liked this a bit, he thought no one else should know, since he was no show off…

Later on when they found shelter in a unoccupied cave it was raining. Ray seemed to be fast asleep but Dusk wasn't inside. He was outside, staring into the full moon which has happened to rise that night, it was definitely a night to remember no matter which way he thought of it. His fur was drenched with water running through the black and red fur he had, but it didn't really matter. It was an odd but somewhat fine day. He heard footsteps and soon realized it was Ray. He sat next to his friend, looking up at whatever Dusk was looking at, even if he didn't know the purpose.

Dusk didn't say anything and just left him free to sit, after all nights with feelings like that never seemed to come by anymore, who said rain was always a bad symbol? The two friends sat there with soaking wet coats, but nothing but to see what the next day would bring…

* * *

 _ **Well, that's it for this and if you were able to withstand my poor writing up to the end of the chapter I would like to say thank you so much! Seriously I appreciated it even if you only looked at the title. Anyway, I would love to get better so any constructive criticism is always welcome and I would love to hear your review! Stay cool and peace! -Multiversal**_


	3. Smooth Move

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 2: Misguidance**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hello everyone, hope you're enjoying my little tale so far. Prepare to meet a new character coming in this chapter! For a recap of last chapter, Dusk was expecting the usual day of hated and constant fear from others, only that he got the exact opposite when meeting Ray; A fan of the Ice Houndoom, of course this kid's gotta go home and Dusk...**_

* * *

 _Morning…_

Dawn came over the forest that morning as beautiful as ever. The sun was seen coming over the horizon just in time to light up the sky in charming shades of orange and pink. Dusk woke up noticing the light begin to magnify in brightness. He stood onto his four paws before stretching out his long body and yawning showing his blade like fangs, he realized how good of a sleep he had compared to normal nights. The hound looked over to his new buddy Ray who was still asleep, he didn't know how a kid like him slept past sunrise, then again, Dusk surely wasn't normal himself so he didn't mind it.

" _His parents are probably out looking for him, it would be better to get him back as soon as possible..."_ Thought Dusk as he walked over to the napping fox, proceeding to nudge him with a paw shaking him a bit.

"Rise and shine kid." Said Dusk as Ray yawned realizing his sleep has been disturbed…

" _Five more minutes…_ " Replied the kid banality before Dusk shook him again.

"You can sleep when we get you back home."

* * *

With that the two were on their way and it wasn't long until they felt the grass under them get thinner and saw the trees grow less in number. Dusk looked around as they entered the more mountainous terrain, something about it just felt really familiar to Dusk although he couldn't put a paw on it. Ray on the other hand didn't really want to leave his Houndoom friend this quickly even after spending a whole night with him.

"I didn't know Vulpix's or Ninetales' lived around this area." Stated Dusk as he looked around the area.

"Oh, they don't." The Fox replied surprising Dusk once again with his strange lifestyle. He continued to say. "I'm the only one of my species around here."

Ray's voice was pretty much casual as if he didn't even care, Dusk concluded this meant that he was probably was adopted awhile ago, this place wasn't somewhere a fox would call territory anyway. Looking around at how much land and space there was here Dusk could tell they weren't alone, but whoever might have been watching weren't really considered a threat.

"Alright Ray, lead the way." Said Dusk to Ray being the only one who knew where to go. Ray yipped running forwards while Dusk would follow closely behind.

"I can't wait for you to meet my sister!"

Dusk paused for a moment making Ray stop in his tracks as well. "I think not. Let's just get you home, i'm sure you know how I am not much of a conversationalist." Dusk concluding walking towards the direction they were headed. Ray caught up to him.

"My sister is really nice and she's strong too! You remind a lot of her even you two _HAVE_ to meet!" Ray exclaimed as Dusk shook his head, hoping his rambling would cease soon. Dusk was sorry to say, but he didn't really care for meeting his sister. Just one friend was enough and Ray could keep his sister to himself, not that he disliked girls or anything.

"Oh wait there it is!" The fox pointed up above a large cliff, how a kit managed to get to the ground from way up there was up to the imagination, but at this point Dusk wasn't really surprised by now.

"Guess we're climbing then." Dusk said wrapping his tail around Ray before scaling up the rocks, Ray was having the time of his young life as the wind blew through his hair and fur. Dusk could admit he was having a bit of fun too, this wide open space felt way more suitable than that in the forest.

Something else was also scaling the mountain pretty quickly moving so fast someone with normal eyes would only see a brown and white blur. It was stealthy too, Dusk was left completely in the dark about it until the pursuer made a careless mistake and let a rock crack under its powerful feet, a sound a Houndoom's horn could hear easily.

Without a second thought the Houndoom pounced and turned to unleash an Ice Beam attack towards his enemy, who actually dodged it with ease, leaving Dusk a little in shock, but at the same time excited. Of course, Ray being here on this steep climb wasn't the best idea.

" _It dodged my Ice Beam."_ Dusk thought finally reaching the summit of the rocky cliff, now releasing Ray from his tail grip.

"This is it right here right?" Dusk said looking towards the large cavern right in front of them, it was dark for the most part but he didn't bother looking in their too deeply.

"Yeah! Thank you Dusk!" He yipped before urging him to come inside with him.

"Nah kid, I better get going. I don't intend on being a nuisance around here." Dusk said leaving even though he knew he liked it a little more over here.

"Wait! You will come back right!?" Ray called for Dusk who was already half way down the mountain and didn't bother to respond leaving the kit ears flat. He walked into the cave expecting to be met by his sister but she wasn't around.

* * *

"Sis?" Ray asked in the dark cave before he heard pawsteps come into the cave. "There you are Ray!" Said a feminine voice with an angry tone it seemed.

Ray flattened his ears again. "I-I'm sorry I was gone so long…" Ray apologize before he was tackled by his sister in a tight hug, the cave was too dark for you to actually see what she was, but she was surely a canine.

"I don't care Ray just do not scare me like that again, I did not trust when I saw you with that Houndoom."

"What do you mean!? He's a really cool guy, he even carried me way over here from the forest!" Ray announced for her as the female canine looked him over with bright blue eyes, her only visible feature at the moment.

She soon noticed that Ray had quite a few bruises on him. "What exactly happened to you out there?" She inquired concerned for his safety.

Ray told her everything from the moment he and Dusk met up until the present time. Sister was angry but at the same time a little intrigued by what she heard. She would make that tortoise pay even worse but overall she decided that the Houndoom was okay but she still wasn't so sure about him, not knowing what he was actually like up close.

This little fox kit, however, was determined to actually force the two to meet one way or the other. All he had to do was figure out how…

Meanwhile, Dusk made a harmless way throughout the forest once again to have the animals diss him and give him more hate. He dealt with it daily so it didn't really bother him, he just remembered that one friend he made, even if it was just a kit…

* * *

 _Few Days Have Passed…_

Dusk had to admit, he had been expecting Ray to come back for quite a bit of time, but the more free time meant he would train more, he was a perfectionist, but he had his own reasons for wanting to be stronger.

Not for fame or glory, but to make up for everything...Plus, that creatures that pursued him and Ray the other day seemed to know how to handle itself too, whatever it was…

Somewhere close by Ray was running as fast as he could towards Dusk's place panting and with an extremely worried look on his face. Wouldn't be long before Dusk heard him coming with such an unusual pace and met him about half way.

"Something wrong?" Dusk asked tilting his head to the exhausted fox kit.

"Something happened...no time to explain...Gotta hurry!" Ray spoke between deep, maybe over exaggerated pants.

"Where to!?"

* * *

Ray later led Dusk into a canyon near the mountains, it was a large empty space with no Pokemon in sight. Emphasis on the 'empty space' part.

"Ray. There's nothing here, you see that right?" Dusk stated calm voice as Ray gave a childish giggle. Dusk wasn't sure if he should be angry or not, especially now that he was intrigued by what Ray found so amusing.

It didn't take long for that reason to show up as the two heard footsteps coming their way, the first thing that was noticed was piercing blue eyes. The figure came closer and closer until its form was clear, the only existent wolf Pokemon, a Lycanroc came into view.

The Lycanroc noticed Dusk in the distance as well… Once it became close enough to view it stopped running. It had a slender, majestic form and them eyes though! Them ocean blue diamond eyes though! _**(X3)**_ It was near obvious that this Lycanroc was female, Dusk has never seen this kind of Pokemon before on this island, only but recently…

The two canines were face to face, giving a glare that buried into the other's eyes. The Lycanroc looked at Dusk before searching around for something, then she saw Ray having a huge smile.

"Ray, what is going on here? You told me there was an emergency" The Lycanroc asked looking at him as Dusk did the same.

"I wanted you to meet and now you have! Say hi to each other!" Ray announced putting extreme awkwardness into the situation.

The two dog's stared at each other not even knowing what to say, of course one obviously had more will to speak than the other.

"Well, uhm...hello. I'm Silver. Nice to meet you Dusk." She introduced as politely as possible with a small smile. Dusk wasn't so sure about her.

"You're the one who was trying to attack me a while ago." Dusk said at point blank making Ray pull his ears down his face.

" _No no no, Dusk!"_ Ray screamed in his head not even knowing that Dusk didn't know how to speak to a girl. (Ray learned through his sister of course.)

"Look, sorry about that. I just wanted to protect my brother, then I saw that you were actually trying to do the same. It's over now right?"

Dusk was silent not knowing what to say to her or what to think. Ray was a kid so it wasn't too surprising by now he was naive enough to befriend a threatening Houndoom. But this Lycanroc, Silver, a fully grown adult. One with enough speed to dodge his attack and he didn't even know about her power…

It didn't take long for Silver to get irritated with his rudeness and she growled. "Can you not be so rude, i'm trying to be your friend."

"Pfft." Dusk said turning the other way away from her, obviously still holding that slight grudge but at the same time he couldn't help but get that feeling that Silver was actually okay, though he didn't want to admit it.

Silver gave him the same treatment, this is not what Ray had schemed, but only Dusk could make this friendship work. "You know, I thought you would be nice…" Silver said finally as Dusk fell completely silent.

Ray had to do something so he ran over to Silver and told her the little that he actually knew about Dusk. She gave a sigh. "Maybe I am forcing it...Sorry." Silver said still ignoring him.

Then Ray went over to talk to Dusk, of course he would be a bit tougher to get on his side. "Dusk, please just say something. My sister is really nice I swear." Ray whispered basically begging Dusk who still didn't say anything looking another direction.

The kit ran in front of the Houndoom, showing huge, liquid filled eyes like he was about to cry. Dusk could not even find a suitable reaction...his only buddy was now about to cry just over this, he sighed.

" _I guess I was being selfish."_ Dusk replied near under his breath. "Sorry." He finished turning back around to face the Lycanroc named Silver.

She gave a sweet smile to him. "It's okay, let's just get over it." She said.

There was a moment of complete silence between the three. Since no one had anything to say, Dusk decided to walk forward past the two.

"Wait where are you going?" Asked Ray curious to follow the Dark Hound wherever he went.

"Since i'm here again, I might as well take a look around." Said Dusk, knowing that he felt something really familiar about this place.

"Well, uhm, it's getting late. How about you stay over with us and get some food. Ray and I would be glad to show you around in the morning!" Offered Silver.

"Yay! Sleepover with Dusk!" Ray shouted bouncing around, the happiness Ray had was a good reason to stay but…

"No thanks. I prefer my own way." Dusk simply stated before walking on but Silver stopped him and started to push him back.

"I insist Dusk, it would be rude to just let you go out not even knowing where you're going." (If only she knew.)

"I am pretty sur-" Dusk tried to say before Silver interrupted him with a growl.

"Don't fight me on this Dusk the least you could do is keep Ray some company." She gave a serious glare.

Dusk was once again completely silenced. Not wanting to get into a fight with her he decided to go along with it. _Not that he was actually intimidated by her or anything._

 _Ray could only smile as his sister and his friend were finally able to meet, they seemed to hit it off pretty well. At least he thinks so..._

 _ **That's the end of this part to the story, hope you liked it! If you didn't that's fine too. If you have any thoughts you'd like to share please put them down on the comment section because I would love to know your opinion. Peace all.-Multiversal**_


	4. Things to Look Forward To

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 3: It's Alright to Hold On**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hey there people! Glad you could join me for the next part of this story which I'm excited to have over 70 views so far in four days! Anyway remember to review the story so I can get better at writing! (If you want.) So...Quick Recap: Dusk has gotten Ray home safe and sound even with a pursuer after them, who turned out to be Silver the Lycanroc, Ray's sister, only trying to protect him. The two didn't really get acquainted until Ray thought up something for it. Dusk wishes to explore the rocky landscape and it seems that Silver and Ray want to tag along...**_

* * *

 _That Night…_

Ray was scampering through the grassy area of the mountains as Dusk and Silver followed. They were heading towards the lake to hunt for some food. Dusk looked around, there were other big Pokemon around, most bigger than him. They weren't afraid of him, they gave a glance, sometimes even a friendly wave, before moving on. _Was it seriously_ _ **this**_ _laid back around here, or were there just bigger fish to fry?_

Dusk didn't mind, it was sort of a relief for him of course. Though he did wonder what challenges could be waiting around the corner. He focused his attention on the here and now, by now Silver was chasing her little brother up to the lake. She seemed to be a very strong Lycanroc with a much kinder side, he shook his head getting it out of his mind before Silver went over to him.

Dusk looked up to the night sky, as well did Silver, they suppressed their canine instincts to howl at it for now. If anything was true is that these two loved the night sky more than anything. The two respected each other's space so they didn't really really speak a word.

With more than enough time to spare they have made it to the lake, the twinkling stars of the night sky seemed to fill the very view of the water with light. Dusk stared at it silently, like he's never seen something this beautiful before.

"Breathtaking, right? Silver asked staring into the water and Dusk responded with a nod.

Being here, at this place that made him so calm. It felt really nice, having an actually moment of relaxation, no reaction could be made from him as a result of the past few days.

"C'mon you two let's fish!" Ray roared his tiny little head off before shooting flame throwers at the water, scaring away the sea life down below.

"Holy shit!" "What is that!?" The fish screamed underwater swimming away. Dusk and Silver turned towards the mischievous fox.

"Ray that's not how you bring them to you." Silver explained laughing a bit before she went over to him.

She slid her tail into the water before shivering a bit. "Wait for it." She said with a wink, Dusk watched actually a bit intrigued, as he has never lived by a body of water containing fish he has obviously never fished. ( _I know I said he doesn't eat meat unless it's already dead but fish are an exception because...who cares? It's like chickens to be honest._ )

Ray watched too right by Dusk's side. "My sister is an expert." He whispered to the hound, he had to admit it did look like the case.

* * *

 _Underwater…_

As the fish, most of them large Magikarp, while they were supposed to be swimming the hell away by a flamethrower they not even saw _**TWO**_ minutes ago they suddenly stopped when they heard something drop into the water, they were soon to find out that it was Silver's tail, if they weren't stupid that is.

They swam up to the tail they thought was a huge worm before two of them latched their mouths onto the Wolf's tail, and at point blank they were yanked out of the water left to flop on the ground like the trash they were to the Pokemon world. (Sorry for extreme edginess.) "Gets 'em every time!" Ray barked.

Dusk could feel something a little familiar when she decided to take charge and show Ray how it was done. In fact it was too familiar. He looked down to the ground as he started to remember something, he was ashamed to even say it was a forgotten memory…

 _His parents. One was a beautiful, energetic, caring female. The other was strong and didn't easily accept defeat, a fearless male. He didn't know their names… They were the ones that taught Dusk mostly everything besides his brother. His mother was around more than his dad though, even more than his brother at times. She fed him and loved him no matter what problems came, even when they found out that Dusk couldn't spit fire. Since Dad was on watch for the pack the majority of the time it was up to her to teach him things the others couldn't, there was a more particular reason why the pup learned Ice instead._

 _She was helpful and very loving, generally like Silver was to Ray…_

* * *

Dusk blushed a bit embarrassed by even thinking of that, then he felt pushing towards his body. "Dusk you okay? You've been like that for a minute." Asked Ray, Silver giving a look of concern as well.

" _Why was he...looking at me like that…?_ " Silver thought in complete silence for a moment looking at him, he seemed suddenly really disturbed…

She shook it off for now as Dusk came over and sniffed the stupid fish that flopped very stupidly, this was Dusk's first time observing this behavior, of course that, is a Splash attack. Silver brought out her claw before slashing the two's bodies killing them instantly, looks like no one likes Gyarados sushi.

"So Dusk, want your fish cooked or do you like raw?" Silver asked him, as enticing as fish sounded after such a long time, he had to refuse and let that come for another time.

"No. I do not think I can eat right now. I'm going for a walk...alone. I'll meet up with you guys later." Dusk said as blunt as it came and walked away leaving the two canine siblings.

Ray started to go after him but Silver grabbed him by one of his six tails. "Let him be for now Ray, he needs some space. C'mon let's eat." She said sweetly.

Dusk by now has made it far enough away from the others, no he wasn't running if anything Dusk normally wouldn't lie. The dog relaxed, hidden by the shadows the night sky have gave. His gleaming red eyes and the outline of his form was the only thing visible.

He sighed, thinking deeply. This was definitely a problem that bothered his very being...the problem was, he didn't know how to handle it.

About an hour has passed by now and Ray was yawning widely, trying not to fall asleep waiting for his friend. A small pup couldn't handle that and drifted right to sleep. Silver smiled at how cute her little brother looked, then she thought about Dusk. She sniffed the air and got a little of his scent, so he wasn't that far away…

* * *

Dusk began shed tears as he thought about his family, his body trembled near uncontrollably as he unwillingly was starting to remember too much. He couldn't stop it even if he tried, he felt so many emotions bottle up in him at once. _Joy. Happiness. Sadness. Rage. Disappointment._

" _ **RRRAAGGGGHHHH!**_ The hound dug his claws into the ground, he couldn't hold his emotion anymore, it was too much for him to handle. He shot storms of Blizzard attacks everywhere… " _What the hell, who the hell has done this...Why am I like this, a freak…"_ He growled under his breath keeping himself from tearing up anymore. The whole area around him was freezing cold by now and everything was frozen or broken into tiny shards.

Dusk breathed heavily before he just gave up, letting his tears run freely down his cheeks until they dropped to die on the ground, he was silent, until he heard a voice.

"Dusk…" Said a worried Silver from behind. Dusk didn't look back, ashamed to let others see him cry, his eyes were kept shut.

Silver walked up to him, though it was freezing, she pushed it aside for her friend in need. As Dusk heard her footsteps come near, his muscles began to tense up and his fur began to stand like a hedgehog on the defensive.

Silver wanted to help him, he was in a deep state of pain. She tried to move a little closer, only making Dusk growl more. "Get back…" He said with pure anger, he seemed to be a completely different Dusk at the moment. Silver made the mistake of ignoring this threat and Dusk turned around at point blank and shot a raged fuel Blizzard directly at her, sending her flying back into a rock.

Dusk realized suddenly that he has lost his mind firing that at Ray's sister. He ran over to her in a hurry. "S-Silver!?" He called shouting to her but with no response, he shook her with his forepaws and he realized she had a few cuts on her body from the freezing properties of his attack, but she didn't look too hurt. Her body started to shiver before she slowly regained the will to open her eyes.

"Silver!" He exclaimed in relief to the fact that she was still conscious. The wolf shifted her eyes around, but didn't look at Dusk. Dusk's relief soon turned into something a little more related to fear, one of the few Pokemon to show him kindness has once again been wronged due to his pride.

"S-Silver...I'm sorry, I don't know. What is my problem…" He said, backing away from her and looking away, fighting the urge to shed more tears.

"D-Dusk...I don't care. I'm pretty sure I don't like you for doing that…" She said, Dusk lowered his head in disappointment. "That doesn't mean I don't like you either, it was wrong for me to enter your space...I get you're not out going all the time...like Ray wants to believe." She finished her sentence, Dusk now looking at her, he felt a searing pain now.

"C'mon, help me up please and let's find some...sitrus berries…" Silver concluded as Dusk nodded as helped her up for now, letting her lean on his side as she still shivered slightly.

"Are you, forgiving me…?" Dusk asked.

"No...Not yet anyway. For now let's just get those berries so I can clean up this horrible look…" Silver said looking down, Dusk nodded.

"If that's what you need, i'm on it.."

The two of them by now were walking towards where the berries grow around the rocky landscape, there weren't a lot of places like this around here but they weren't far either. The only thing that accompanied the two was that awkward silence that always seemed to be lurking around.

Of course, Dusk didn't want to say any word still feeling ashamed of what he had done.

"You've been alone for a long time, haven't you?" A weakened Silver managed to say. Dusk nodded slowly.

"I do not know how to release emotion around others, it's been awhile since anyone ever given a damn about me…" Silver gave a nod in understanding, the two didn't say anything until they found sitrus berry bushes.

Silver stopped leaning on him and sat. "Just rub the juice onto my fur...please." Silver asked in kind as Dusk went over to the bush before stabbing his tails through about two of them, the juices ran down his tail.

He rubbed the berries stuck to his knife like tail over Silver's fur and skin, her wounds started to clear away like magic and she took a sigh of relief. Dusk didn't bother to say a word but he was relieve that Silver was feeling better.

"I should be going back, i'm sure Ray is worried...You come too, at least for now." She said before walking back and Dusk followed silently...

* * *

By the time they got back Ray was inside of a shelter made up from from looked like a Stone Edge attack. He was napping.

Taking knowledge to this Silver walked over to the side of the lake and sat, peering her reflection from into the water. It wasn't long before Dusk's reflection joined hers.

"Dusk...that look you gave me before. What was that about?" The wolf asked Dusk who was silent for a moment, he was still embarrassed by this whole night, but, it was the least he could do at the same time.

He looked towards her and told her nothing but the truth. "You, remind me of my mother…I could never remember her clearly until you came along…" Dusk responded looking away down into the lake, not able to see the sudden blush he had earned from Silver.

"I do…? How so?" She asked.

"My mom taught me mostly everything, even being the only Houndoom in the pack who didn't breath fire, she made sure that I didn't remain weak...She was inspirational, kind, loving. I wish I could see her again…"

Silver's ears laid flat as she listened to that last part. "Do you know where she is…?" The Lycanroc asked.

"No, she's gone. Dead…"

There was a strong silence now, Silver was left in shock. "H-How do you know…?"

"It's like this...I wish I didn't remember this so suddenly…"

* * *

 _Sometime ago…_

 _It wasn't a peaceful time for the Dark Pokemon pack, there was a tribe feud between the Dark Pokemon(Houndoom) and the Bite Pokemon(Mightyena). There was no benefit for either side, but from here things only became worse…_

 _As the two tribes clashed there was later an even worse threat to come. A runt Dusk wanted to help fight against the Mightyena beside brother and father, mom however couldn't have one of her only two children killed, she forced him to stay back. Dusk wanted to fight so bad that eventually mom would have to seal out the cave, eventually the crafty canine soon found a way to escape._

 _Few days past, the war still went on. Bloodshed and dead dogs were everywhere. Then that's when_ _ **they**_ _came...Humans. With large guns, putting an end to the canine society for their own hunting purposes. If the packs could only work together they could have stopped them, but even then they still clashed back and forth and that soon led to their ultimate downfall. Dusk was really frightened of these humans and like a puppy does he ran tail tucked back home, only to find mother wasn't there anymore. Dusk automatically concluded that she has been taken away from him, his brother and father were nowhere in sight… He sobbed calling for mom. Calling for dad. For brother. Really anyone that could help him,_ _ **but nobody came…**_

 _From there he ran away, and for mysterious causes after that gorish event, he was only left with no clear memory of his past, or anyone or anything, only left with strange dreams that seemed to have no meaning until a few days ago, when he made his first friend in a long time...Ray._

The hound stayed silent now, his memories becoming more lucid as the days in this new era have passed, although he still didn't know everything… He looked at Silver, who was trying her best to hold back her tears, to no avail…

"Dusk...I know how you feel…" Silver managed to grow a smile on her face, much to Dusk's confusion. "You see...I have lost my mother too…"

Dusk was shocked but was somewhat was relieved to have someone to relate to, even if his expression showing anything but relief, but she wasn't done there. "The difference...is I _know_ , she is gone…" She began to cry some more forcing her eyes shut. The Houndoom listened to whatever she had to say.

"I'm...not sure if I want to go through that again...especially because I only had my mother to take care of me, I was her one pride and joy since dad has disappeared...But I knew...that she was limp that day...she didn't move. I held onto her her months, going weeks without eating to stay by her side as much as possible...b-but she just wouldn't w-wake up…" Silver's voice began to break as she cried silently. Dusk didn't know what to say to her…

"Your mom has only gone missing...it's not the end yet for your hope Dusk...You shouldn't give up your search...and...I am honored to even be comparable to the companion in your life you truly valued, and I know...you wish you were there for you when she needed you too…"

All of her words were true, Dusk couldn't help but smile a bit, he wasn't so embarrassed to have thought of her that way now. Silver still shed tears remembering times she wish she could just forget, Dusk wrapped his tail around her, he had a soft smile on his face, Silver saw this and met his smile with her own.

"You're right Silver. About...everything. Maybe, my family really is out there. Somewhere…" Dusk said distantly though he comforted her with a hesitated rub with his head under her own, she was calmed by this.

"Thank you Dusk...if anything. I know you're a part of our family." She said sincerely rubbing her head back against his in order to comfort him too. The two friends stared at the night sky.

"Thanks..Silver. I'm sorry for hurting you and being rude...If anything, for you and Ray I know one day, just. Everything could be alright…"

"I think so too Dusk...You're forgiven for earlier too. There's something else I think I want to say to you too-" Silver started to say before being interrupted by a cute yawning sound that happened to be Ray, he was probably gonna wake up if someone didn't keep him company, Silver knew this well enough…

"Oh, seems Ray might wake soon hearing us out here." She whispered before Dusk gave a slight chuckle. (Possible the first time he actually laughed since this story started.)

"Don't worry, i'll be fine. Go with your brother and i'll see you both in the morning." Said the hound with newfound confidence than ever about his life's purpose.

Silver nodded in respect though she really wanted to say something to him, she guessed it could wait until a more important time.

"Okay." She said with a cheeky smile. "G'night Dusk." She said leaving her friend before going into the stone tent. Dusk looked into his reflection in the water, like he was looking at a new person now...and he could have swore he saw something pink swim across his reflection too...


	5. Blast From the Past(Yeah, another one)

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 4: Off Your Game**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hey all! Welcome to the next chapter of Midnight Hound and i'm glad you all managed to still stay here up until now. If anything let's get started and remember to give constructive criticism when reviewing, also tell me what your favorite chapter is so far. (Trust me it helps.) Also for another thing, this chapter is not too important to the story at least in my opinion, compared to the much later chapters I have planned this one is honestly taking a chill pill.**_

* * *

 _Next Day…_

Morning has came right on schedule, you know who wasn't on schedule? _Dusk._

Silver and Ray walked outside of their little shelter when they caught the first signs of daylight, they caught Dusk still asleep on the ground, seems he has gotten a bit too relaxed.

"That's weird, Dusk is up _way_ before dawn. Normally." Ray implied before the two approached him, Silver with a curious look on her face.

" _I wonder…_ " Silver thought before a evil smirk spread across muzzle, Ray looked at her questioningly.

"I'm not sure Dusk would like being pranked." Ray suggesting trying to stifle a laugh, he knew his sister had a really playful personality.

She giggled before sneaking up behind Dusk. "Don't worry, I think he'll be fine with it. This isn't _near_ as bad as what you can do you mischievous fox." Silver giggled wriggling her body like she was about to pounce. The Vulpix joined his sister not wanting to miss out.

"On three." The Lycanroc winked to her brother who gave a silent nod. " _One…"_ They assumed their positions. " _Two…"_ They raised their tails up with no grins leaving from their muzzles. " _Three!_ " The two shouted simultaneously before springing onto Dusk.

"Holy Shit!" Dusk yelped suddenly being taken off guard from the two playful pokemon, he was heavily breathing until he saw that it was only Silver and Ray, a breath of relief was given as the two giggled, soon enough, Dusk couldn't help but join them in their amusement.

"You should watch your mouth." Silver playfully scolded as Ray laughed.

"Sorry." Dusk said laughing a bit under the two.

"Heh heh...I can't believe I overslept." Said Dusk with an embarrassed grin before the two got off of him with a big smile.

"You seem a lot different today Dusk!" Ray announced with a nod of agreement from Silver, though she knew full well why.

"Guess i'm just in a good mood today." The hound replied rubbing his tail through the fox's hair. Silver sniggered at the two. _The Fox, and the Hound, and the Wolf. This was certainly an unlikely trio of friends._

"So Dusk, you said you wanted to explore around here right?" Silver asked curiously before Dusk gave a simple nod in agreement.

"Have you thought about what exactly you were looking for?" She continued. Dusk had to admit he wasn't fully sure, he had a much clearer mind set now than he did have before coming to this place.

"I guess for now we can just explore or something, maybe i'll get an idea soon enough but for now I didn't really have any fixed plan for this." Said Dusk lost into his own mind as he sat back on his haunches.

"Don't worry it's fine." Silver reassured giving Dusk a sweet smile, he didn't know why, but the way she smiled at him seemed to have a bigger effect on him with each passing moment, but he generally tried not to stare.

"Well c'mon then slowpokes! (No pun intended.) Let's go then!" Ray barked impatiently running off to no one knows where. Silver could only giggle at her brother's rash nature and proceeded to follow after him, before accidently bumping into Dusk, making both of their faces flush with red.

"S-sorry." They both said to each other in near perfect unison followed by an awkward smile, before Silver dashed off to catch up with her brother.

"C'mon Dusk!" She called.

Dusk followed after them, he wondered what was wrong with him today. He seemed to feel a completely unusual way around Silver ever since the events of the previous night have passed. It's not that he only acted like this because she was a girl, he already knew that wasn't how it worked, but what was bothering him. Why did his body suddenly feel all warm and fuzzy around her all of a sudden? He didn't know it but whatever was bothering him, was bothering Silver as well…

* * *

A few minutes into the walk Dusk got naturally curious and began to ask her questions about what this place actually was. She replied in kind. "This place is really nothing nothing special, this is just Wilder Mountain Path, there of course is a mountain in this area named the same. But honestly that's it, I know nothing about it since I have never been inside." Silver concluded as Dusk suddenly got intrigued.

" _I wonder what's in there, there must be a reason why she has never been inside there. Maybe it's something best for another time."_ Dusk thought...

Silence has fallen on the crew for the rest of the generally short tour unless it was either Silver or Ray who commented on something they passed by, Dusk would simply nod to show his understanding. But he wasn't any closer to finding any answers that there simply wasn't a question for, unless it would be why did the place have such a familiar feel to it.

Not long afterward the gang had decided to break for some rest, sure Silver and Dusk already knew how to travel great distances without food or water, of course Ray was but a pup so he needed whatever nutrition he needed.

"Uh Dusk...when do you plan on going back to the forest?" Ray asked and Silver kind of was concerned to know as well, not that she didn't want him to leave or anything.

Memories of completely frightened pokemon running away from him was brought into Dusk's memories. He did generally wonder why did he even call that place home, he shook the thoughts out of his head for now and simply replied with. "I don't know for now, however long I need."

This of course made Ray cheer knowing he could spend more time with his hound friend and as for Silver she actually seemed relieved to the fact that Dusk and them would probably be traveling together for a couple of days. A silent _yes_ ran through her head as she gave a cheery smile. It was only near midday when this was all said and done so they once again went hunting.

Of course Dusk ate the majority of berries while Silver and Ray did the actual hunting and caught themselves some small rodents to snack on, tearing through their flesh to pick the tough meat off, Dusk simply just chewed. And swallowed. Not that he minded at all, he was a carnivore so he would eventually have to have some meat every now and again. After their meal, the three of them just lazed next to each other in the warm heat of the sun. Something Silver and Ray enjoyed doing while at the same time something that Dusk had never experienced. In fact it has all been new experiences for this Houndoom lately and he started to mind less and less as each relaxing carefree minute passed by…

* * *

Dusk thought to himself for a moment, wondering how much time he has spent being lazy, that's at least what he calls it. He thought about his two friends, wondering if he actually could protect them. Silver looked towards Dusk and gave him a concerned look, the hound saw this and decided to smile. When he saw the faces of the Lycanroc and the Vulpix he generally knew that he would be able to protect them whenever the time had come…

For now he enjoyed this relaxation. From a distance up onto the steep cliffs a pair of red eyes gleamed from above as it stared at the trio. It had two large shiny black manes running down to its rear end. It also had huge white claws scything out from each paw toe it had, they could slice a pokemon to pieces at point blank…

" _That can't...possibly be."_ It said to itself upon looking at one of the three closely before showing a sharp fanged smirk. For now, it walked away chuckling to itself thinking of a no doubt mischievous plot…

* * *

 _Sometime Ago…_

 _The Houndour/Houndoom pack was pretty chill for the time being. All the young Houndour were playing games and such while the adult Houndoom casually chatted the day away. All was good for everyone,_ _ **well almost everyone.**_

 _Dusk was in the darkness hiding from everyone, he didn't want to be caught in the sight of the other Houndour, lest he wanted to be made fun of again. All the other pups had made fun of Dusk. (_ _ **For obvious reasons.)**_ _He was mostly sad and alone. Mother, dad, and brother were normally out doing their own thing, thinking Dusk would be having fun by now._

 _Long story short, he was eventually caught and with no adults around to protect him Dusk was of course subjected to the consequences. Nothing really bad, just the usual name calling, shoving, or whatever, typical little pup trying to be scary bully. Dusk was only a puppy himself, and he felt really hurt by all of their harassment towards him and he eventually ran away, though the others were one step behind him eager to see how far they could go before he cried._

 _Something watched from a safe distance as it watched the Houndour run away from his supposed to be so called allies from a thick bush. It was a canine indeed but its form was greatly covered and was able to be seen._

 _The bullies ultimately concerned the poor ice hound sooner or later and continued their pleasure, which was seeing Dusk's pain. Eventually, he buried his head in his paws and sobbed wishing his mom or anyone would try to stop this. It was then at everybody in the area heard a snarl from somewhere, it was a weak and feeble one but it still was there. The other Houndour ran back like little babies back home to their mommy's. Leaving Dusk alone to cry to himself to distracted to even hear what everybody else had heard…_

 _The creature from before walked out of the bushes and spoke to Dusk. It was the voice of another pup._

" _Hey you alright?" The canine said slightly nudging Dusk before he picked up his head to meet him._

" _Don't worry i'm not a bully. I scared those meanies away!" It barked proudly making Dusk pounce on him and lick his face happily, wagging his little Houndour tail._

" _Thanks!" Dusk said with a optimistic look before he got off of the other canine, afterwards the two exchanged introductions and made quick friends really fast._

" _Uh...you wanna go play?" The mystery dog asked Dusk who was barely never asked to play before. His only response was a tiny bark before nudging the dog with his paw._

" _Tag!" Dusk yelled before running away, the other puppy laughed before running after him too. Dusk was actually pretty quick but eventually the canine pounced on him to tag him back and the both of them had a good laugh. Those two would surely make the best of friends for years to come…_

* * *

Dusk woke up and it was now dark. He had a pretty fun day of naturally relaxing for once with Silver and Ray. The three went hunting, swimming, rock climbing, and all the other good stuff. It was past midnight for certain, Dusk thought about a dream that he just had, an obviously very important dream. The dreams he had now were a lot more vivid and not random all of the time anymore, but this wasn't just a dream, but it was also another memory. Dusk sat up as he thought to himself.

Though this flash was clear he still couldn't see one particular puppy's face, or any other features for that matter and whoever that was, was no doubt the main character to that sleeping tail…

Looking over Silver and Ray who were rarely ever bothered by their sleep, a smile came over his muzzle and he naturally calmed down. He felt that eventually he would find the answer to that, and that eventually would come _real_ soon.

Dusk closed his eyes again as sleep overcame him, the soft cool winds of the night sky flew gently passed everyone's fur, and it could almost sound like there was a laughter being carried with it...


	6. (Part 1 Conclusion I Guess)

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 5: A Glimpse of Hope, Maybe**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hey all welcome to Chapter 5 of Midnight Hound! (Yay) All I have to say for this chapter is get ready to meet a brand new character! (Yes, another one I know.) Also today it's been a week since I started this story and I wanna say a special thanks to all of the viewers! I hope you all enjoy!**_

* * *

 _Next Morning… (I swear I need to start with something better or-)_

Dusk, his eyes fluttering open as dawn has approached, he has made sure to wake up early this morning for specific purposes. He decided that today, he was going to train, and of course this was something that Dusk preferred to do alone, more than likely because he doesn't want to be held back by the others and eventually become soft, he wasn't up for that bullshit.

He stood up slowly and stretched without a sound. With no second thoughts he began to walk away from Silver and Ray's home. Which the two introduced him to sometime the previous day before night fall.

Once the sneaky hound was far enough away from their home, he began to suddenly burst into a dash. He speed could easily put Manectric to shame, and he wasn't even running his fastest. (To reserve his energy.) Dusk trained himself usually everyday in the most extremist of ways, even if he knew he was gonna take a few scratches in the long run. Of course, his strength and special abilities were the only thing he had until he met Ray and his sister, Silver. Thinking about them, Dusk knew that he was going to have to train himself harder than ever now and he probably should be a bit more forceful when it came to his alone time, of course he didn't really want to say that to them.

* * *

As the lone hound continue his run basically piercing through the wind, something called out catching the attention of Dusk's large horns, which of course were generally sensitive.

" _You're pretty fast now, but still maybe a little bit too slow."_ It called out, but Dusk kept running even though he did completely hear that statement. His plan was to draw this guy out into the open, and boy did it work! It wasn't long until a blur was running straight past Dusk with a cocky grin that Dusk of course notice.

" _Was that a Mightyena?"_ Dusk thought to himself taking a look at how he was running, and it was some pretty intense speed. This wasn't just any other Mightyena. He quickened the movement of his already rapidly moving paw steps to catch up to him. The Mightyena grinned before bumping into Dusk. ( _Suddenly turns into Stardust Speedway…)_

"Gotta be quicker than that!" He announced, that smirk on his mug never ceasing.

What was the deal with this Bite pokemon? Dusk supposed it didn't matter really, he wasn't really a threat at the moment and at the same time sort of interesting, if not already worthy opponent. But just racing with Dusk didn't seem to be the hyena's objective, only known when he proceeded to tackle Dusk onto the ground.

Dusk did not expect such a, cheap shot, and was knocked onto his back as the Mightyena stood triumphantly and laughed.

"And once again Shadow wins the race! Even after all these years!" The Mightyena announced with a cocky scoff.

Dusk tilted his head, wondering if this dog needed some type of mental therapy. The Mightyena, name assumed to be dubbed Shadow. Shadow eventually tilted his head becoming silent as well realizing Dusk wasn't laughing with him.

"What's wrong _Dusk_ you forgot how to laugh?" He asked as Dusk's eyebrow raised of speculation.

"How do you know my name?" Dusk asked getting up on his paws now as Shadow mulled over his head awkwardly. He wasn't really expecting a question like that to hit him.

"Oh yeah. Right you probably don't recognize me, since we both grown up so much over the years, the only way I could actually tell it was you of all Houndoom's was because, you already have had such a unique look." Said Shadow a little more than embarrassed.

Dusk took a chance to look over this hyena, the way his fangs were shaped, how his eyes gleamed with curiosity yet determination, even the colors of his fur, they were real familiar. When he thought about the name Shadow. _That's_ when it finally hit him on the head.

 _Shadow, that one pup, a Poochyena. The one pup who actually wanted to be Dusk's friend. They would do everything together like playing, napping, and sometimes eating. The families of both were mostly glad they seemed to have friends to play with, but no one knew that they were friends with each others rivals. Nobody ever did to be honest, from Shadow, Dusk learned more about being sneaky and quiet like a fox. (Guess we know where the secretive thing came from.)_

 _Of course, the two were split apart when the war broke out and then the humans came… Taking everything from them, the memory of the only friend besides your family who wasn't even from your pack… Humans always do this without considering the consequences for everyone else. (You don't like it. I don't either, but it's true.)_

"Yo...Dusk?" The Mightyena asked waving his paw to see if he could get a response. Once again, Dusk was recovering more memories, this time more good than bad.

The Houndoom's eyes teared up and he was completely silent, this was the first actual person from his past. He wasn't dead! But how!? Is it possible that Silver was actually right about all of this, was there really hope. More than likely not, but Dusk was damn sure gonna get what he could take! The Mightyena walked closer to Dusk wondering what could be wrong with his long time friend.

Dusk growled slightly before pouncing on his friend and licking his face with extreme happiness like old times. Shadow laughed as well as Dusk did after bouncing off of him and cleaning his face.

"Holy fuck man…" Said Dusk distantly, but contently.

"I'm relieved to see you safe as well. My friend. You have grown much, possible the strongest Houndoom I may have encountered." Shadow said in the same tone, a bit more maturity in his voice this time.

"Yeah, I have personal reasons. But, how are you even here right now? I wasn't even able to see you in... uh. Those days." Dusk said getting silent around that last part.

Shadow nodded understanding what his friend wanted, no. _Needed._ To know. "I could ask you the same question but since you asked be first, i'll tell you..."

* * *

 _Years Back In Time…_

 _Shadow, a Poochyena was inside his den curled up into the corner. Poor guy's been punished for his persistence to keep running outside despite the situation they were in. He whimpered. "D-Dusk…" The puppy whimpered in thought worried about his friend as he remained shaking in the corner, a bloody mush of a gash in his tail. Mother, a Mightyena, came around with some leaves bound together thanks to her practice in using psychic moves and wrapped them tight around his tail._

 _The puppy howled in pain as his agony has skyrocketed tenfold. Mother's ears laid flat before she licked him against his head lovingly. She laid by his side and wrapped her tail around him. "I'm sorry I had to punish you...But what could possibly possess you to go out at a time like this?" His mother asked and when she normally asked a question, it would be best to actually tell the truth and do it soon._

" _I-I...was worried about my f-friend." Tiny pup Shadow answered now going into more tears as he thought about his friend._

 _Mother Mightyena felt horrible for punishing her son now, but she knew he had to understand how this was._

" _Shadow, i'm sorry. But, i'm sure Dusk is inside with his family too, i'm sure he's the safest pup of all right now. Just like you." She gave a sweet smile and kissed her son his little poochy forehead causing him to giggle a little._

 _The two seemed to be better between each other but banality, it was of course not over yet. That's when another Mightyena, Shadow's dad came running in panting hard, blood flowing through his fur, cuts and bruises nearly everywhere else._

" _You two...you've got to leave now! We can't hold these humans for too long anymore. Please!" The Mightyena commanded, using the last of his energy in that last word before falling limp on the ground, no sign of living._

 _There, by a Poochyena offspring, and a Mightyena wife, have witness the death of someone of there very own loved right in front of their very eyes. But, mother respected father's wishes and took her son and ran out to escape with the rest of the pack…_

* * *

"...and it from there when it was pretty much over. Ultimately we didn't lose too many in our pack...But. Although, I am still remembering how my own blood has left this world in front of my own, unready eyes, our pack is doing better than ever nowadays thanks to his choice to tell us to run, even if it cost him his last breaths…" Shadow said smiling a little. "And now that I finally know that you're safe, I definitely feel a lot better about whatever has happened back then and I might be able to leave it behind."

The two friends smiled before Shadow eventually asked about Dusk's escape, it came with the full details, at least until after he ran away and lost most of his memories. Dusk ultimately concluded that he might've just been hit on the head, but Shadow gave him a quizzical expression.

"That's. Impossible Dusk." Shadow told Dusk as if he wasn't confused enough about this whole ordeal.

"What do you mean it's impossible?" Dusk questioned.

"Well, Houndour always have skulls attached to their heads am I right. That gives your skull double layer protection for that to be able to happen so it was obviously something else." Shadow concluded to Dusk who nodded in understanding, that actually was true.

"Oh yeah. Dusk, there's something that I think you should know." The hyena said to his hound comrade who was prepared to hang on to whatever else he had to say.

"You may want to head down to the Sandian Beaches which are generally just north from here, if you want. There are two things that you might really want to see over there, you know, if you're doing anything special. Your friend should have you covered." Shadow replied referring to Silver, Dusk was kind of oblivious to what he was getting at though.

And then, the two could hear 2 sets of four paws each come their way, there was a feminine howl coming from said direction as well. Dusk knew it was Silver looking for him by now since it has gone way past the break of dawn.

"See ya dude." Shadow said making like his name and was gone in a flash. Dusk only looked in the direction that he went, was that really the last time he would see Shadow? Soon, he was met by the voices of a relieved Silver and an ecstatic Ray.

Ray hugged his friend tightly as Silver gave him a sudden hug since she was so thankful her friend was safe. Dusk kind of blush and so did Silver when she realized she just hugged Dusk. Of course Dusk released Frost Breath out from his maw so his face could cool down quickly still not knowing what that generally was, this helped Silver's blush dissipate as well after she got off of him.

"Don't worry, I was just out on a run for a while." Dusk said to calm any incoming questions anyone might have had coming, or most anyway.

The two nodded in understanding, he felt he should tell them what was happening so he offered to go back to the cave for a little group chat. Everybody agreed and went back towards the cave, A pair of red eyes gleaming from afar, gleaming with curiosity and determination.

" _Good luck my friend, I will be seeing you later…"_

* * *

Later on Silver, Ray, and Dusk were inside of their comfy cave. Light patches of glowing moss laid on the ground here and there, they made perfect spots to sleep on of course. The cave was dimly lit with a few holes from the top letting in sun rays in the day and twilight at night. Of course now it was day so it wasn't the latter at the moment.

Dusk thought about how he would actually tell his friends about the whole situation that happened with Shadow. He did realize it would be wrong to just escape without them, the least he could do was to simply tell them about the situation, so he told them everything. From the moment he collided with Shadow, who he was and what he told him, except for the part about traveling toward the Sandian Beaches. The two were curious to find out more about this Shadow character but for now they only left it with a nod to show their understanding.

"And there was one last thing…" Dusk said finally before Silver and Ray perked up to listen.

"Shadow told me that there were two things, supposedly waiting for me over at Sandian Beaches, he said they were about north from this place, any of you have any clue about it?"

"Oh wait I know about that place. It's a long way there from here. Not to mention that it is a dangerous way there as well." Said Silver seriously. "Lots of powerful, territorial creatures lie the places in between, they're blood thirsty and don't show mercy for those who step into their territory." Silver concluded.

Of course Dusk, who could honestly give less of a damn about these foes who at least thought they were powerful, doesn't mean he's underestimating them. But obviously Shadow was serious earlier when he told him about this place and he was determined to make his way there.

"Alright, I'm going to head there now. If it's really that dangerous than maybe you two should stay here. This is my own problem, after all." Dusk said standing to his feet before some fox bit his tail holding him back.

"Hold on Dusk I won't let you go alone!" Ray barked making Dusk stop in his tracks. Silver could see that determination in Ray's eyes and so could Dusk, as the look was too familiar to him now.

She knew she wouldn't be able to keep him away when he was like this. She sighed, before giving a smile.

"I won't let that happen neither Dusk, if this is really that important to you then I feel obligated to help you out in any way I can. And Ray, if you're coming too, I'll have to teach you how to properly defend yourself." Silver said sincerely, knowing that Blastoise from a couple of days ago was no match for the pokemon that they may encounter on this dangerous travel.

Dusk, once again speechless from his friends kindness, he knew they were totally with him one hundred percent on this and he didn't feel like he should say no, for some reason he just couldn't say no to them. A tear almost came to his eye, but no. _Not. Again._

"Normally, I would say no to your offer. But you guys, the first two people who have had faith and trust in me for a long time. You guys deserve to join me and if I do have second thoughts about it, smack me with a good attack." Dusk grinned as everyone present howled in agreement.

 _They were a lot more than just simply a group of friends now, they were a pack. A small one but a sure one. From there they promised to watch each others backs and encourage the weaker ones to stay strong in the long run. They did not know of the hardships that would come their way but they were damn sure to push past them all, for this mysterious cause that probably didn't even exist…_

 _Dusk, Silver, and Ray. Soon to be a tightly bonded canine team. The challenges that they face, they'll always face them together…_

* * *

 _ **Chapter complete everyone and this is generally the end to part one of this story. This time around will come for more of the M rated stuff i'm sure you all have been waiting for. (If not, then okay.) There will be fights, drama, romance, or whatever extra I may think of adding here. I hope I can do it right, i'm kind of nervous. Anyway, please leave a review if you want any feedback is well accepted in my book.**_


	7. I'm Doing This Now (Small Recess)

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter : (No son, not a chapter.)**_

 _ **In celebration of completing part one to this story finally and preparing for part two, (where all the action is supposedly supposed to happen) I'm just gonna tell a few facts and things you should know about the current main characters.**_

 _ **Dusk: A chill Houndoom who didn't even know what he really wanted out of life nor his purpose in it. He not only uses his strength but his mind to conquer any challenge. He is extremely passionate about fighting for the few friends that he actually has and wouldn't know what he still would be doing without them. (I'm sure you knew that.) But I bet you didn't know, (Or maybe you did.) His role in the story was much different than how it finally turned out. He first started out as a roleplaying character who I honestly just ripped from a pic I drew of a Houndoom way back when. I kept roleplaying with him, getting more and more into his character development as the time passed. Eventually his type was even changed, as he was at first a normal Houndoom with fire ability, he was changed to be a little after another character who you'll never meet on this site. (Because it's fanfiction.) As for his story, the original name for it was supposed to be named after Dusk himself and i'm too lazy to type type out that crap. Plus he was actually supposed to be much less brooding of a character and wasn't treated like crap by everyone he met. For now that's all I can say about his history.**_

 _ **Age Range: 17 to possibly 20.**_

 _ **Height: 4'8''**_

 _ **Species: Houndoom**_

 _ **Gender: Male**_

 _ **Weight: 122 lbs**_

 _ **Eye Color: Red**_

 _ **Ray: A small, energetic puppy who will follow Dusk wherever he goes, it is possible that the two are like best friends at some point. He doesn't really know how to fight or anything yet, but he still has a lot of spirit and attitude for quite a tiny pup and he is the brother of Silver. Though he is a shiny Vulpix in this story he was originally meant to be a silver furred puppy version of a Ninetales with red eyes. His role didn't really change compared to the original story, he's more or less based on one of my closest friends and that's about all there is to say about him.**_

 _ **Age Range: 11 to possibly 13**_

 _ **Height: 2'10''**_

 _ **Species: Vulpix**_

 _ **Gender: Male**_

 _ **Weight: 47 lbs**_

 _ **Eye Color: Blue**_

 _ **Silver: A nice and kind Lycanroc who will always protect her brother whenever she has to. She also seemed to be somewhat shy when she and Dusk met face to face but she's usually out going. Nothing is yet known about the way she handles fights yet but she is somewhat around Dusk in terms of speed who can easily surpass a Manectric. Also she does seem to have a bit of a crush on Dusk as well as he does, either of them know though ha ha. A surprise about her history is the fact there wasn't anything. You see, the only reason she's into this story now is because I felt like I had to replace her predecessor to her current role, as the older character did not have the specific right personality for the newer version of this story. Other than that, that is generally it. She's here now and honestly has come to be my favorite character of the story!**_

 _ **Age Range: 16 to possibly 18**_

 _ **Height: 3'11 (Basically screw Pokemon heights they're bull shit.)**_

 _ **Species: Midday Lycanroc**_

 _ **Gender: Female**_

 _ **Weight: 96 lbs**_

 _ **Eye Color: Sky Blue (OMG I love them. Yeah, you're gonna hear a lot of my bitching about this for pretty much this whole thing. So sorry about that)**_

 _ **Shadow: A cool and secretive like Mightyena, and he acts pretty nice besides what you would hear about most Mightyena. He is a kind soul with obviously some high tier skills that can even take Dusk by surprise. Honestly he might be my second favorite character soon. There isn't much history to him however. I guess the idea for this came up when I roleplayed in the past, when that was apparently a thing. The Bite/Dark Pokemon war has already passed in said roleplays but Shadow never was an existent character until I started writing the last chapter. Still I like seeing him generally interacting with Dusk in the story and even I am actually still wondering if or when he will ever come back.**_

 _ **Age Range: 18 to possibly 21**_

 _ **Height: 4'5''**_

 _ **Species: Mightyena**_

 _ **Gender: Male**_

 _ **Weight: 125 lbs**_

 _ **Eye Color: Red**_

 _ **So that's some information I hope that will suffice if anyone was wondering about specific details about the characters. I hope you all will stick around for part two and you know I update rather quickly if you've been watching me update. Anyway this is something I planned on doing a while ago but then I was like "Nah, i'll wait 'til we get more of the characters in. Hope you see you guys later and peace!**_


	8. And We're Back!

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 6: Adventure's Beginning**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hey guys, for those of you who were actually waiting for me to write this new chapter I'm sorry, I got caught up in. Things. Anyway welcome to the beginning of Part 2 of Midnight Hound, they'll be some slight gore to say the most. Hope you guys will enjoy anyway and this is by far the longest chapter so far!**_

* * *

The next morning started off sound and peaceful, the calm before the storm... Silver and Ray were mentally preparing to leave their home not exactly knowing when or if they'll return, of course it is generally just a cave so it wasn't like they were leaving anything. Plus thanks to her geokinesis, Silver could block off the cave easily if she wanted. Dusk was up all night, wondering what this was all about and thinking of why it was that important to travel far to the edge of Forla, not like Dusk could wait for any longer, he was only still here because Ray needed sleep and food before this journey, Dusk and Silver would be fine for traveling long distances since they were older and were much more experienced when it came to long travel.

As the pure light of day finally reached the good ol' sky, the three of the canines were already awake, ready for anything. _We hope anyway._

The three already knew what was happening and without much chit-chat they were on their way, soon to leave the mountains. Ray yawned widely, regretting a bit that he agreed to wake up so early. Silver giggled laying on her belly with a kind smile.

"C'mon, i'll wake you up a bit later." Silver told Ray who didn't waste plopping down on her back and falling asleep and Dusk was once again finding himself staring at her. Silver's kindness and sweet smile could get to anyone, our Houndoom was no exception. He did avert his gaze before she could see him however, _**phew.**_

"So what's up ahead?" Dusk questioned to Silver who seemed to be a little distracted by something, most likely in her own thoughts.

"Silver?" He questioned again before the midday wolf snapped herself out of her daze after about a full minute.

"Uhm, sorry Dusk. What is it?" Silver asked not hearing what Dusk has asked her before so he had to ask again.

"I asked what's ahead from here."

"Oh. The fastest way is to take the edge pathway, but even then it's still a long way to travel, but if we go at it quickly than it might only take a few days as long as none of us get seriously hurt..." Silver said worriedly but surely.

Dusk nodded getting the picture, this could actually bring a lot of good things for the trio if they made it to their destination. But meanwhile, if they were to screw this up this could be the last time Dusk would see the faces of the two canine companions he had. There was still so much he had to say to the two. For Ray he could do it anytime but for Silver he still couldn't make up his mind about her, every time he would think about it he would feel an unfamiliar trembling in his legs, little did he know that came from fear and a few other emotions and feelings.

The two walked silently for a hour before finally reaching the end of Mt. Wilder Path's border. (Horrible with names, should've seen what Silver's name was supposed to be.) Ray woke up just in time too and hopped off of Silver, obviously he knew where the border was as well. They looked back as they were now about to leave the place they knew since, a long time ago and were about to enter the fear of the unknown.

"This is it...We're finally about to take the edge pathway. You guys are absolutely sure about doing this then?" Dusk asked his canine friends who both gave serious nods.

"There should be shelter a couple of miles from here, but, as I said before. The pokemon who lurk around here are territorial, so we have to be very quiet when making our way so we can avoid as many fights as possible, even then, we'll still run into them." Silver stated being the first to start walking, Dusk and Ray not far behind.

* * *

There wasn't much to this path at first, it was mostly just blank road so there wasn't anything for anyone to really protect, but that only would last a short while before they really went too far Silver decided to stop for a while to train Ray in using some survival fighting skills, she was a rock type though so she could only go as far as that and wasn't really able to teach him to control his fire too well.

Dusk watched as Ray was indeed learning some good defensive moves but as a Vulpix it would be essential for him to be able to control not only fire abilities but even psychic as well. His mother was at least able to teach him a little about using simple ice type moves like Ice Fang or Frost Breath like a Houndoom could use fire, he was experienced enough to do the swap of it he thought so he walked over to the two.

"I'll take over from here Silver,rest for a bit." He told the wolf before turning to Ray. Silver didn't really question him knowing that Dusk was a clever dog and probably had a plan up his sleeve, she could only wonder what it was.

"Alright Ray, I know I saw you bring out a good Flamethrower a few days back, so I don't think it's going to be too tough to teach you a thing or two about the controlling your pyrokinesis." Dusk told Ray who tilted his head already having so many questions for that one statement but for now he only asked one.

"What's pyrokinesis?"

"Simply it's having control over fire and my mom who also had it has taught me to use a few of my ice type moves." Dusk answered, now sitting in front of Ray preparing to demonstrate something to him. Ray watched carefully as did Silver pretty interested.

"Now. Your Flamethrower is powerful, yet I see you can't control it. I'm not a teacher but I do know if you can master it then you can become even more powerful, now follow my lead, no skipping ahead, got that?" Dusk answered to Ray who nodded excitedly.

"Alright Dusk show away!"

Dusk smiled before taking a deep breath. "Start off by taking a deep breath, the more calm you are the more accuracy you'll have when performing an attack."

Ray of course didn't understand the half of what he was saying but he did what he said. Taking a deep breath, Ray could suddenly feel the warmness of his insides burst, small harmless sparks of flame were released from his mouth. (Some DB stuff I guess, call me a weeb if you want.)

"Yeowch!" Ray said falling over on his back holding his chest suddenly feeling an increasing burn from within. Silver gasped when she saw this and ran over to try and aid him but Dusk stepped in front of her.

"Dusk what did you do!?" Yelled an angry Silver, Dusk kept his calm since he knew what he was doing.

"It's okay Silver, this is what happened to me to when I first tried this. You wouldn't know because you don't have a special type like us two, and as for what's happening right now, his fire potential is rising up." Dusk explained as Silver tried to grasp the concept, and not even a few seconds later Ray was fine thought breathing a little heavy, too heavy if you think about it.

Silver took notice to this and calmed down somewhat. "Most of these types do not know how to release their own potential, it wasn't just about the breathing but the patience and determination itself. You see, one thing I have learned is that ice isn't always weak to fire. If it's cold enough, ice could burn you worst than fire and maybe put it out as well, living in a pack of normal Houndour and Houndoom of course I would eventually learn it. But if anything, ice is the exact opposite of fire and in some cases the same, that's the only reason it worked for both." Dusk explained further turning to face Ray as did Silver.

"Sorry to make you go through that buddy." Dusk said with an apologetic smile as Ray nodded with a bright smile too.

"It's okay Dusk, I feel funny though." Ray said taking a breath, a small wave of flames escaping his mouth before it shut. Silver looked at him surprised at the pup who breathed fire by merely a simple breath without even realizing it.

"Remember to calm down a bit if you want to control it." Said Dusk with a grin chuckling a bit thinking that enhancement trick would be enough for now. For a few more hours Dusk and Silver trained him in the normal art of self defense for the rest of that time, as of course that was needed too just in case…

There were soon to be jagged, dusty gray boulders building up cliffs and other rocky landscapes on the sights. The insides were totally dark and seemed to be leading into a network of caverns eventually. Our canine friends knew exactly what time it was…

"Guess, this is it, eh?" Dusk asked before the three stepped forward, watching over their backs for anything suspicious that may have been stalking them, this was savage territory and scrubs get rekt zero to a hundred real quick.

They were right when they thought the place was too dark, it seemed like a bunch of empty chasm space, quite quiet as well so the gang would have to find some shelter quickly before something could see them.

Dusk nudged his head forward motioning for the others to follow, they scoped the area for anything they could call shelter, while there were a couple of blank caves it was almost certain that they would belong to other pokemon. Then again, it was a world of give or take, especially in these parts so they might have actually had to fight.

Silver and Dusk kept moving ahead, Ray lingered a little behind since he was really getting creeped out from this place.

"C'mon dude." Dusk said noticing his lag before glaring off into the distance that was west of them.

"Better come quick too..."

* * *

 _A bit later…_

 _Large footsteps could be heard in the area where we just saw our traveling canines, the footsteps were accompanied by about a dozen. There was Rampardos, Steelix, Machoke, Carnavine, Camerupt, and also many other more smaller pokemon but perhaps the most recognizable of all the species was an Aggron, he had many gouges within its armour and the dual horns he had protruding from his head were quite long, telling that not only this Aggron was hardened by battle, but it also old as well._

 _There was a faint unfamiliar scent in the area but no other real signs like footprints in the dirt or anything. He already knew whoever just violated his territory had to be smarter than just some punk. He snarled as he showed his claws, his crew waiting for anything to happen._

 _This Aggron was prepared to mercilessly murder, and a wicked grin crossed his face, obviously a sadist._

" _Listen up useless maggots." The Aggron spoke as everyone else present stood to attention for his orders._

" _Yes sir!"_

" _You know as well as I that there are intruders that think I am a fool on my turf, you need to find them. Bring them to me, alive. I want to be the one who kills them." The Aggron's grin could only grow wickeder, as well as his followers, except for one anyway._

" _As usual, you'll be led by my own. Come here, son." He spoke before the Machoke stepped forward with a face without emotion, a scar crossed over his right eye leaving him barely able to see._

" _Yes, father." The Machoke bowed._

" _You know your mission, Brawl. Capture these intruders the moment you spot their doomed faces."_

 _The Aggron walked off and the Machock named Brawl stood there silently watching his father walk off. The other pokemon looked to him for their orders, Brawl shooed them off knowing that there was really nothing to say as it was generally a simple task. He went off in the same direction as Dusk and the others went off to…_

* * *

Back to our trio, they have made a generally good distance so far and it was still quiet around those parts so tried to cover as much space as possible taking short breaks between to ensure they don't get too exhausted.

For some reason the space around them seemed to actually get more enclosed by each step, making less room for a quick escape if that turned to be the case but eventually that would probably turn to be the opposite.

"I guess we might not be in anyone's territory yet…" Silver whispered keeping Ray close to her.

At that moment the group spotted a tiny Rattata looking around as if searching for something. What would a tiny pokemon like that be doing around these parts, you know, being actually alive and stuff. Dusk was already getting a sudden feeling how many things seemed wrong with this situation.

Rattata looked at them giving a tilted head to the _**foreign**_ faces, then its eyes suddenly went wide and it opened its mouth for some reason.

" _ **Holy shit!**_ " Dusk thought fast before lunging himself on the Rattata _just_ the second before it let out an ear piercing, high pitched Screech attack before being followed by a blood curdling cry when Dusk clamped his windpipe shut. The noise alone made Ray cringe with disgust, this was the first time Dusk actually murdered another pokemon but the situation wouldn't allow him to dwell on that detail.

"We need to find some place to hide now.." Silver say with a lot of worry in her voice, Ray darting his head back and forth for numerous characters he was sure that would appear. Dusk nodded before spitting the rat's blood out of his muzzle.

The three were off from there in a flash, but without time to clean their footsteps or clear any trace of Rattata's scent…

* * *

Some of the pokemon seen from earlier ran to the area where they heard their associate's Screech attack to only find a dead purple rat on the ground, eyes still wide open, permanently paralyzed with fear. His blood still spurted and leaked the ground around him.

One of the pokemon growled and stomped the ground.

"Damn it all! We just missed 'em!"

"We need to go tell Brawl."

The several at the scene agreed and went racing back to the supposed prince of the Aggron empire Brawl, who actually happened to be running their way, quite quickly. (Especially for a Machoke who are normally slow.)

"What happened?" He asked a little irritably although he already could take a wild guess at it.

"The intruders have killed one of our own." Spoke the Gurdurr motioning towards the dead rodent. Brawl walked towards Rattata silently. He dug a small hole in the ground before burying the mouse pokemon into the ground as the others watched silently, some out of respect, others just didn't want to get a beating. This Machoke was much different than his so called Aggron father who wouldn't give a rat's ass for the fallen, they were weak to him, in fact everyone was weak compared to him in his own way.

Brawl clenched his fist and growled, he had a lot of respect for the lives of pokemon, even for the ones as cruel as the ones who lurked in this horrid place. Whoever has done this they were sure to be in a world of hurt now...

* * *

Sooner than later, the pack has found a somewhat comfortable enough place to rest and catch their breath though they had to move pretty quickly to cover so much ground and being seen by who knows how many enemies.

Silver gave a sigh of relief and eventually a smile. "Phew...we made it. I thought you were so brave." Silver said licking Ray's head as he cringed of embarrassment and shame. He was still so frightened of all these pokemon, no, monsters that were ready to snap his head at a moments notice, and he knew that they knew how scared he was. He thought traveling with them would make him brave from the start. He didn't say any of this though and just tried to enjoy the brief tranquility.

Dusk didn't know what to expect now, since he knew he left tracks and blood behind those pokemon would be on them any moment if they didn't clear their path. Of course being the protective hound he was, Dusk decided to volunteer to do it. Silver and Ray weren't really sure about him going out alone but he insisted, having no choice by this point they let him go. Silver warned Dusk to not be long.

Dusk retraced his steps after clearing his body of any lingering scent so he couldn't be followed and he was clearing everyone's tracks and stepped softly so not to make more with his paw pads and claws. He thought he had covered a good amount of land so he was ready to head back when suddenly his head shot back.

A muscular and large pokemon was coming his way, a Machoke to be exact.

"So. You're one of them, huh?" Dusk already knew the answer to his own question.

The Machoke stood there for a moment silently. "I guess, if I knew what you were saying. All I know is that you killed one of my comrades."

"It was the only way to protect my friends, so I've had no other choice." He said distantly, making the Machoke go silent again. Dusk noticed this, possibly there was a chance this Machoke didn't want to fight him, but then he crunched his knuckles.

"I see. But i'm only here to do my job."

The Machoke suddenly charged at Dusk like a blur before knocking Dusk a clear thirty feet away with a Mach Punch towards the jaw. (Super effective mate.) Blood could be seen flying across the view.

With a large thud to the ground and nearly broken jaw, the hound quickly realized this Machoke wasn't something to joke around with, he would be a challenge.

"Aren't you going to fight back, mutt?"

Dusk thought for a minute. "...some other time, I have others to return to."

The hound released a thick fog of cold air out of his mouth, fogging the area with a cloudy Mist before releasing a power Dark Pulse through it towards Machoke who had to guard himself only seeing an orb of darkness cut through the Mist towards him. For a dark type move it caused quite a few bruises on Brawl the Machoke.

The area would take a while to clear seeing how cold it was. Knowing the Houndoom has already escaped, he didn't have a choice but to return back for now with nothing in hand, besides a little respect for Dusk. He was powerful and smart, yet he cares deeply about those he protects, unlike his father but just like him, Brawl.

* * *

Brawl came to the peak of a large mountain, where his father was resided, the majority of the clan lived there but of course Aggron's are hoarders when it comes to territory. And having a huge pack simply meant being more powerful. As he approached he heard something too familiar. The bone chilling cry of someone who was guillotined, either for disobeying, not agreeing, you name it. He stepped inside, his father, the Aggron's claws covered in dripping blood, he stared daggers down to the creature who somehow pissed him off, with that same sadistic smirk. Brawl said not a word about this.

There was another pokemon next to his recently killed friend crying in fear.

" _P-please lord Ruth no…"_

Lord Ruth, the Aggron, was already snipping his claws like a pair of scissors grinning wickedly.

Brawl glared to his father before he spoke. "Father, I bare news."

Ruth turned towards him, then back to the anonymous pokemon. "Get out of here you shit."

The pokemon bowed before running out, Brawl gave a mental sigh of relief once again saving another life from his father.

"Now son, what is it that is so important?"

"I know one of the intruders is a Houndoom, I was unable to capture him. As you said, he was crafty."

"Or maybe. You're getting more incompetent, you can't seem to do a proper job with shit anymore and once again interrupted me during my past time.

 _Pastime. A fucking pastime! That's what the hell this other poor, innocent pokemon died for!? Just because you were bored!_ Brawl kept his anger to a minimum in front of him however.

"Sorry, father."

"Go hunt down that mutt and his friends, on your way bring a bitch bake here, I need to cool off." Ruth stretched before heading back into the deeper parts of the cave. Brawl was filled with rage nearly every time he confronted his dad, and no. Brawl wasn't going to bring a 'bitch' back for his cruel father for pleasure he did not deserve to have. He simply left his home back out into the chasms and caverns. He thought about that Houndoom he met earlier and if anything, Brawl was definitely ready to face him again.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dusk eventually came back to the group. Silver and Ray shot up when he finally came of course relieved that he was okay.

"Dusk where were you!?" Ray exclaimed.

"I am wondering too." Silver said with a look of anger but concern, she then noticed the large bruise on his muzzle and a little blood leaking from his nose.

"And what happened you said-"

"I know Silver." Dusk interrupted. "I'm sorry I just got caught up in a struggle, it's not worth talking about now."

Silver had many things to say about that statement but ultimately, he was safe and it was somewhat dark (For this place.) anyway so they really should be resting while the opportunity was theirs.

"It's alright...Dusk. It wasn't that bad I suppose." She laid back down stilled obviously worried, Dusk upon seeing their faces wished they wouldn't care so much about him, they wouldn't have been so worried but as of now he had no choice but to accept it.

"I'll fix you up when we get up again, for now just rest…" Silver said one last time before smiling at Dusk and then letting the bliss of sleep take her over. Dusk smiled as well, before eventually falling asleep next to his buddy Ray who was already out like a light…

 _Dusk, Silver, and Ray still didn't know that there were much more dangers to worry about. This Machoke, what was his deal and why did it seem like he didn't want to fight? More of these mysterious will be discovered and solved as the canine trio travel on, mah heart is a racing…_

* * *

 _ **I hope you all liked the chapter, please review if you can or want to. I hope also hope that you liked Brawl the Macho Machoke. I have even more plans for the story as well, but you know. Can't spoil, part of being a writer or something. Anyway, more chapters are yet to come so I hope you stay tuned!**_


	9. The Resistance Is Here

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 7: Enemies and Friends**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hey everybody i'm glad you could join me here for the next installment of Midnight Hound! So nothing about this chapter is really all that but for the most part you'll have to read and find out on your own! (Living the Write Life.) All I have to say is that there is a shortage of Silver in this chapter so sorry for any fans of the wolf pokemon. Anyway, with that out of the way let us continue the story…**_

* * *

 _By midnight the trio of friends continued their travel for a few hours making pretty good time, even if they only covered about eight percent of the distance. Of course Ruth and his baddies were in pursuit, who Dusk and the gang still had mostly no clue about, for now that is…_

That Machoke still clouded Dusk's mind, it wasn't even fully evolved yet he was the most powerful foe he has ever faced, his head filled with many questions about him.

"Silver, Dusk i'm hungryyyyy…" Whined Ray as his stomach growled painfully.

Dusk and Silver were actually pretty hungry themselves at the moment, maybe it was time to find some food around, but then again the hours they have spent traveling through here they have not seen one morsel of food around here, and of course killing another pokemon would mean others would be on them in minutes.

Silver was stumped about what to do knowing it wasn't safe for the group to be lingering in one place for too long, she looked to Dusk to see if he had any ideas. She was right to anyway, Dusk would probably have more luck finding something and he already had a plan, though simple.

"Alright...I guess i'll go searching for anywhere food maybe hidden. Silver, since you specialize in rocks you could probably carve out a new, hopefully unrecognizable cave." Dusk suggested, looking around the strange cliffs surrounding them, they seemed to be made of fluorite, if it weren't for the situation they would have noticed it before as it is a beautiful mineral, but also one of the hardest.

Silver nodded with a confident smile. "Don't worry, we'll be ready when you come back. Good luck." She hesitantly gave him a nudge before getting to work calling Ray over. (Yeah, yeah I know you wanted it since Chapter 4, but i'm a very cruel person you see.) Dusk set off for his task as well, knowing that he would be a while as it already was.

* * *

Silver gave a look to the mineral, she could tell by a sniff that it was a generally strong and hard material, while nice to look at it also concealed light pretty well. Sharpening her claws, she got right to work breaking apart the mineral, weakening the wall enough for her to use moves like Stone Edge to start carving out the edges…

Ray of course was quickly bored with waiting as Silver made quick work of making the cave, it was merely a forty minute wait until she was done carving out a big enough space for the three canines to sleep in, she kept a few big scrap pieces of fluorite so she could make a seal for a door whenever she needed to, which was actually to come in handy pretty soon.

"Alright brother, i'm going to look around for a few to make sure nobody's around stalking after us, just stay in here. I plan to seal the cave so no one will bother you. Am I clear?"

"But that's not fair! I want to help to!"

Silver sighed trying to find some way to calm her eager brother. "Ray this isn't a game this time, you're a bit too young to understand this fully." She said before walking out of the cave using her uhm, earth bending powers to seal the cave off with the other pieces of fluorite from before, leaving Ray in the darkness. Did she seriously just said he was _**too young to understand**_ , boy.

"Pfft, I don't need permission to help my friends." Ray walked up to the door mumbling under his breath before putting his ear to it, waiting for the sound of Silver's footsteps to disappear out of range, and soon enough they did.

"I'll go search for food myself!" He added with a suddenly merry grin before using Dig to get himself out of there, wow, already a deadly flaw. But still, the cave looks like it hasn't been touched from the outside so it really didn't matter. Ray had knew Dig for a long time, as a mischievous pup who used to get into all types of trouble he has tried it a couple of times, eventually it became fluid. The Vulpix went towards the more forested area of this strange place hopefully to find something, not knowing he was being followed by something a little after…

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

 _While that was happening, Dusk was on his search for food a good distance away from the group by now. Only problem was this place was completely deserted, no food was in sight around here not to mention no pokemon were found around either, what was going on…?_

The whole time there was a cool breeze that flowed through the area, the only reason that actually mattered was because a disturbing warm flow came into it.

Glaring straight ahead, he was met by the same Machoke, the moonlight for some reason came shimmering down on the area, as if lighting some sort of arena. Dusk lowered his body getting ready for any sudden move.

"You are strong Houndoom, I can tell you are not normal... Please, face me in battle." The Machoke gave a bow of courtesy, leading Dusk to hold back his tenseness but only by a little. He gave a nod, not showing the same respect that the Machoke, Brawl, had shown him.

Brawl smiled. "Thanks." He regained his seriousness and got into a stance readying himself for any sly tricks, in the wild it didn't really matter if anyone fought fairly, after all, it was either for the sake of a fair fight or their life. Brawl and Dusk expected tricks from both sides to be honest.

After a moment of silence Dusk made the first move this time charging at Brawl and readying his claws. Brawl tensed up before charging at Dusk, the two met each other halfway for the clash…

* * *

Meanwhile, as Silver watched around the area she thought to herself for the time.

" _Maybe I was a bit to harsh with Ray...I love him like my own but maybe I'm holding him back a little too much. He only does want to help…_ " Silver thought as she continued her patrol making a promise to herself to make this up to Ray after they have gotten out of this wasteland…

* * *

 _ **And even more meanwhile**_ , Ray was sneaking about through this new more leafy area, there still wasn't crap to eat though so he was feeling discouraged rather quickly, not even noticing a small form stalking right behind him, her eyes gleaming with a dazzling emerald were the only things you could see besides its small puppy like silhouette.

It then lunged itself at Ray sinking its enlarged fangs into Ray's shoulder causing him to whimper out in pain. But the form retracted and stepped back as if it only attacked by freight. Ray winced in pain never feeling fangs bite into his delicate flesh before, let alone the large ones of whatever attacked him. He looked over to the form, shivering a little as now it was too afraid to move.

The form revealed itself to Ray's eyes as a small, Poochyena with shiny black and gray fur, her nose was a wet silver instead of the usual bright red. The Poochyena inaudibly yipped when Ray looked her way, expecting him to be after her. The Vulpix only stepped back, trying to show he didn't mean any harm, he didn't want to be bitten again. The leaking blood now matting his fur.

"I'm not a bad guy." He said keeping his distance while trying to calm her down, she raised her head a little, somehow this Vulpix was so intimidating.

She slowly stood up to her feet and walked over to lick his cheek to apologized causing Ray to blush slightly of embarrassment. The Poochyena giggled a little thinking she was a bit silly by doing that.

"U-uhm, sorry for biting you. You just looked, big and strong so I thought you were one of them. I'm Luna. By the way." The young Poochyena introduced making Ray blush even hotter but he tried to ignore it. (Yes I know Luna is way overused don't bother.)

"I'm, Ray.." He said lamely, barely able to say really anything.

The two have only met and already Luna was falling for Ray she thought he was super cute, Ray would be lying if he didn't say the same for her…Puppy love grows generally fast you see.

* * *

 _Back to Super Smash Bros..._

Brawl got his hands on Dusk's sides hoisting the dog up, which Dusk wouldn't happen. His legs stood still against the ground as his rear claws dug into the dirt to keep himself anchored. The hound knew staying like this would a severe disadvantage so thinking fast as always he chomped on his foe's muzzle not showing signs of letting go until Brawl did.

Brawl roared in pain as Dusk's fangs dug in but he didn't plan on letting Dusk go so easily since this trick was such an old one. He only yanked the dog upwards preparing to pile drive this mutt into the ground, which was exactly what he planned.

In the split second the dino fighter lifted his leg getting ready for his move the Houndoom quickly whipped his tail around the Machoke's grounded leg and yanked it hard causing him to fall on his back, but he still didn't released his grip and slammed Dusk toward the ground with him.

Dusk then bit him hard in one of his hands before Brawl released him, giving Dusk space to pounce back. Brawl also got up quickly, the both of them took a moment to realize how strong and smart the other was, it would definitely be a battle involving more brain than brawn. The two haven't faced such a worthy opponent until now, and this was their place to rumble.

Without much thinking Brawl came at Dusk near light speed with a Mach Punch, the only difference this time around was that the hound was prepared this time, he moved out of the way before jabbing his blade tail into the Machoke's thigh. Brawl groaned in pain as his blood leaked on the dog's tail but quickly saw this as an advantage and got a grip on his tail.

Dusk growled but he wasn't shock. Brawl through consecutive punches towards Dusk's stomach once again yanking him from the ground. Spitting up and choking blood by each punch which came like the bullets the dog was in a tight spot. He quickly released Blizzard at point blank range at the Machoke with the little breath he still had. Brawl being so close to the attack automatically had to let go and shield his eyes now being temporarily blinded in both eyes, his body showing blisters by the passing second.

Dusk didn't bother to take too much time to catch his breath before headbutting square on at the Machoke's chest making an audible knock sound since it was so hard. Falling on the ground wincing and catching his breath for warmer air Dusk pounced on him quickly, blood leaking through his red and black fur and a few bruises covering him…

* * *

 _Back to our Ray man…_

Ray and Luna talked for a while, the two getting more used to the other being around. Ray was confused for a minute as for why this pokemon has yet to kill him but that obviously wasn't happening.

Luna was generally trying to keep Ray around as she has not seen a pup her age around here in a long time. So she invited him over to her home. The two were standing over just the plain dirt, Ray wondered what was even here. His question was soon to be answered when Luna dug at the dirt and it revealed a hole in the ground, whatever this dirt was it was good at hiding smell. _Yay._

The hole was just large enough to let the two pups slip in, the entrance eventually sealed itself back up. The hole led to what looked like a den, _**UNDERGROUND!?**_ There were two Mightyena, one of each gender, waiting for their daughter to return. Her mother screamed worriedly and both of the parents pounced on their child happily. Strange. Everyone seemed so happy.

"Where were you dear you could've been hurt!" She tried to put authority behind her voice, neither of the parents could really be mad at their, daughters, especially when she had brought such a cute guest.

"Oh? Who's this?" Mother asked her.

"This is Ray. We just met!" She said with a gleeful smile as Ray blushed from all of the sudden attention, but then again. Who doesn't think that Vulpix's were not so freaking adorbs!?

"Welcome Ray." Said father with a polite grin welcoming the pup to their home.

"Would you like some food little one?" Mother asked as Ray showed a big smile, exactly what he came for!

It wasn't long until Ray told everyone why he was even here and things like that and where he was going. Not to mentioned how strong Dusk and Silver were, the family got some hope that there was a chance things were to change, they continued to talk with Dusk for a little while longer…

* * *

 _Back to Dusk v.s. Brawl..._

" _Go ahead…End it. Finish me off."_ Brawl said with pride, at the least happy for some odd reason. Was he actually glad he lost?

"No." Dusk stepped off of the Machoke, who sat up with a confused look, but he wasn't really surprised at the same time.

"So. I was right about you. You're strong, but at the same time you don't abuse your power. You truly do have my respect."

Dusk gave him a strange look but smiled. "For some reason it feels like you're the same, I have no clue why but it felt like you were holding back a bit."

"Yeah... I'm Brawl. By the way." He extended his hand, which was red somewhat from the freezer burn but he didn't seem to be that affected from it. Dusk smiled and extended his paw and the two warriors shook.

"Dusk." He simply stated.

"Ever since I met you Dusk, I have wanted to fight you. Before that. I wanted to murder you. I don't see any such need for that now, I have respect for you unlike any other."

"I'm honored to have fought you too, you're the first true opponent I felt like I have had in awhile…"

"I want to ask, why have you and your friends come here. I was only sent here to bring you to my father, who wants your heads."

Dusk tilted his head absorbing the new information, so there was actually someone more powerful than this Machoke named Brawl? That was a scary thought to be honest.

"Who is he?" Dusk asked with curiosity.

"A cruel, wicked, dictator, everything and everyone in this land belongs to him basically. He is power hungry and kills only for fun, if you don't join him then he will kill you, if you are trespassing, he will kill you, you name it. I have only found myself with this scar over my eye because I went against him when I was a kid."

Dusk growled, this dude sounded like a real douchebag, it might have been why it has been so quiet around here lately.

"Many innocents were killed because of him, the remaining brave ones are in hiding. I and a few people who actually agree with me provide food, and water. As my father keeps it all in his keep." Brawl pointed back, towards the horizon, there was a long, mountainous area around those parts which were actually multiple mountains, he explained that his father claims that the whole area was like his castle. Not even normal Aggron take that much space. Damn.

"Why don't you take control and throw him down. I can't imagine that's your actual dad for him to actually do that to you." Dusk didn't have any children himself (And doesn't expect to have any.), but he knew damn well that was horrible to do to his own blood.

Brawl sighed, nodding slowly. "Yeah, you're right. My real dad has been gone a long time ago. My dad, or step dad you might say, is an Aggron, he is also responsible for my mother's death...just because she didn't want to be his, 'bitch.' That's what he would call 'em…"

Dusk listened on, his anger was slowly rising by the passing second of Brawl's tale, but for now he didn't let it show.

"...After taking her, I have learned from some nice person who was around I was knocked cold, causing lost of my memory, she helped me calm down and things like that since she was a psychic type. I pretend like I remember nothing though, the only way I can keep helping the innocent is keeping my place at the top. Trust me, I wouldn't be here now if I have tried anything stupid, I was already a rash, angered kid."

"Well, I want to help you." Dusk said to him standing up.

Brawl was generally surprised, but he only smiled not planning to shed a tear to his kindness.

"Whoever he is with that many pokemon he can charge at any second there's no way we could win. But maybe, we could help you guys escape this hell, me and my friends are already on our way to the Sandian beaches, but we would need time to come up with a plan."

Brawl nodded. "Thank you Dusk, for another thing, I know you guys are going to starve out here. So I have some food I brought just a few miles back."

"Thanks." Dusk said sincerely, putting his tail to his head as if resembling a salute.

As the two continued to talk, some pokemon where eavesdropping from a fair distance with eagle like vision. They whispered to each other quietly.

" _ **Damn, the king's own son is a traitor…"**_

" _ **We need to hurry back and tell him now."**_

Dusk thought to himself for a moment before following the Machoke named Brawl…

* * *

 _Currently with Silver…_

Silver was thinking about when she first met Ray. He was roughly around maybe three to six years younger than her back then. He was such a small adorable pup. Thinking about the old days where they used to play when they were younger, Ray was growing up and it would be possible that there would be the day that he wouldn't hang with her anymore. She had to admit there were moments where she felt envy with him following Dusk in everything. They still were close but even then, and she couldn't bring herself to hate Dusk either. But he still could move on to other things, for the most part maybe it was about time for him to do a bit of growing on his own. It was like if he had somehow escaped the cave in anyway right now she couldn't help but be proud. _**The more ya know…**_

* * *

 _Back to the Hound…_

Dusk and Brawl were now fighting again for some reason, making it seem as real as possible and both of them showed weakness from a couple of bruises and bloodshed, but why were they fighting…?

Not long, huge footsteps came there way accompanied by several others. The two smash bros. stopped hearing said footsteps, guess who it was?

 _The one, the fucking only, emperor of Edge Pathway. Give it up for Ruth!_ _ ***Silence***_ _Okay._

Dusk glared at the huge Aggron, he was huge, twice the size of both Dusk and Brawl. The Aggron growled towards one the pokemon who was a scout.

" _You miserable creature...You would dare defy my son as a traitor?_ " Ruth the ruthless spoke in a cold, angry voice.

The pokemon stuttered before his neck was cut short at point blank. Dusk glared in disgust looking at the real miserable creature, but this wasn't a normal Aggron, he wasn't strong enough to take this one. Like him and Brawl both Ruth has been in many battles and he is certainly older in age.

Ruth wiped the blood of the scout on his armour with his signature wicked grin, you could clearly see many dry blood spots on his body, it was sick to look at and to think he enjoyed this…

" _I owe that dog one…_ " Brawl thought, as you may have already figured out. The two fighting again was only a set up to clear any suspicion.

"So you're one of those mutts who dares come here to my turf. What a pity. If you weren't foreign around these parts I would make you my worker. It's a waste you'll have to die like your friends will too when I find them." He laughed as so as all of the other pokemon in his party.

Dusk knew he wouldn't win against all of the other pokemon with Ruth around so this would have to wait another day.

"Maybe someday, but not right now. I'm busy." Dusk said bluntly before he shot a sudden Dark Pulse towards the evil pokemon. It hit the ground just right in front of them to make smoke, dust, and dirt fly everywhere. Once again, Dusk has eluded the bad guys with his smooth moves, and also found out information that could help out the crew.

"BRING ME THAT DAMN MUTT'S HEAD!" The metal dino roared angrily.

Brawl looked toward Dusk's direction, and gave a nod of approval. " _Good luck my friend, I know you wish the same for me. We'll be seeing a lot of each other…"_

* * *

Silver continued watch until Dusk come, with a large saddle full of meat and berries. Silver's mouth dropped in surprise as Ray came running to them as well, who also has happened to have a lot of food. Silver turned her head back and forth between the two, especially Ray but then again she didn't care. She gave a big hug to Ray.

"I'm glad you two are safe." Silver did take notice to the damage done to Dusk but her joy pushed it to the side for now. Her two favorite boys were back and with prizes with them as well. While the three were joyous at first Dusk eventually brought the news to every detail about what was actually happening around them, the only thing he kept secret was his new ally. For now at the least because he knew soon enough he would be seeing Brawl again and he would like to keep things normal. Silver and Ray understood getting tense as they knew their journey wasn't going to get any easier. Ray has decided to keep Luna and the others a secret because he made a promise and didn't want to ruin it, of course he would have some explaining to do once Silver and Dusk found the matted fur on his right shoulder stained with blood.

 _How were things going to go on from here, all these alliances jumping left and right. The good pokemon in this horrid place including Brawl himself were counting on Dusk, Silver, and Ray to help them make the great escape. Of course no such plan were in mind for the Aggron ruler of Edge Pathway, who now has a stronger growing rage against Dusk. How will this all turn out and will our canine pals ever reach to the Sandian Beach? Only time can tell as the resistance moves forward…_

* * *

 _ **I hope you all liked this chapter. Tell me what you think and what should happen in later chapters. Also feel free to ask questions and remember to review if you can!Tell me what you liked and what you didn't please and thanks! Thank you all and stay tuned for the next chapter coming soon to a theater near you! See ya'll later!**_


	10. HOLD UP IS IT FINALLY-

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 8: Kindling Affection**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hey guys what is up I am back with the newest chapter of Midnight Hound. All I have to say for this chapter is that there is something that you all (I think) have been waiting for since the way beginning of the story. But I won't tell you yet. (Once Again, The Write Life.)Also this chapter is less violent somewhat I guess. Anyway I hope you all enjoy the latest chapter!**_

 _ **Disclaimer(My jee I gotta start using this more before I get sued or some shit): Pokemon belongs to the awesome people at Game Freak. I only own my characters. Ya know? No sueing please.**_

* * *

 _Morning Coming…_

 _With more allies on their side, Dusk, Ray, and Silver continued forward on their way. Brawl eventually informed all of his friends to try and watch over them. Dusk knew already of the promise he made, he only needed to figure out how he was going to get everyone with them, it was obvious that a full migration would attract too much attention, it may have been possible for there to have to be a confrontation with the Aggron ruler of the land, but for now he would have to wait for word from the Machoke, Brawl._

 _Brawl watched over the three carefully since he partnered with the hound, observing the relationships over the past few hours. He could tell Ray was something like a little buddy or brother to Dusk. As for Silver, Brawl felt that the two were very awkward around each other. The two barely talked unless there was something having to do with some new information, but they were tense around each other for some reason._

 _Anyway, now on high alert. Hostile pokemon would attack them from left to right, but the lot of them weren't really too challenging to face because they were noobs basically. Eventually would come the time where these enemies were sent in hoards and even stronger fighters would appear, none of them were near the power of Brawl but still having to face all of them at the same time would mean trouble, even for Dusk and his crew…_

Right on the trail of Dusk and his fellow canine's two pokemon were coming their way ready to kill, these intruders were really making them work around the clock. They barely got any sleep over this so that was an extra reason to be pissed.

Brawl for now already knew what was happening but as of the chance that something could go wrong, he tried to interfere as little as possible. They would just have to see it coming..

Ray kept looking back and forth, keeping his ears trained on a sound and barely focusing on anything else. Dusk took notice to this but he didn't mind it for now.

Dusk looked towards Silver for probably the third time since they continued their travel. The thought of Ruth actually taking her away almost drove Dusk mad. He looked down, deep in thought, no. He wouldn't actually believe that and kept his cool...

 _...and as soon his guard went down… (Sorry if I describe this terribly…)_

The ground was ripped under the whole group like a sinkhole was forming beneath their feet. But then a huge metallic form tore its way from under them knocking into the three of their bodies hard.

Dusk, Silver and Ray all have fell to the ground with audible thuds, none of them were seriously hurt. They looked at the place where the ground collapsed only to find a Steelix in its place. Dusk and Silver quickly got up to their feet, but Ray was not as sturdy to take on full edge ground attacks like that and found himself unable to get on his feet like the other two.

Dusk quickly noticed this before charging at the Steelix. "Silver get him away from here now!"

Silver nodded also enraged but for now she could only worry about her brother's safety for right now so she took the little fox kit's neck scruff in her muzzle and took off, but the Steelix wasn't having any of this and charge straight after her, dodging Dusk's assault with ease.

" _ **NO!"**_ Dusk roared chasing the Steelix who showed to be quicker than an average Steelix. (They are slow as fuck and i'm realizing most of the characters being introduced here are overpowered as fuck.)

The Steelix raised its snake like body before trying to slam it down on the two, Ray noticing the huge shadow come over them yipped in complete fear and tried to warn his sister, she of course, knew.

The whole scene seemed to go in slow motion as Silver threw Ray off a couple of feet away before the Steelix's head came slamming on top of her and burying down below. Ray stared in shock as his sister was being buried alive.

Ending the slow motion Dusk bit down on the end of Steelix's sharp tail tip, his fangs broke through the armour, which was actually supposed to be harder than diamond. He struggled to yank the Steelix out of the ground like a whip, the scene was unreal to watch. The iron snake slammed to the ground, Dusk stepped towards him, pure fury was brought to life in his eyes. Fur standing on end, muscles tensed to the maximum, frost seemed to flare out of his nostrils.

Tears also formed into his eyes as he spoke. " _Y-You bastard...I will make sure you all die…"_ Dusk fire a Dark Pulse, but this one seemed different than any other.

Sparks of electricity formed from the dark pulse he generated and before he could fire, his horns picked up something slowly, but surely moving in the dirt. He decided to leave the Steelix and dive into the hole into the ground. Ray was silent, not even able to move. Steelix ultimately took this as an opportunity to escape and tried to dig underground, until Ray shot up and shot a full blown Flamethrower straight at him, actually scorching his body, but he still escaped in the end with the evil deed of attacking his sister.

Ray breathed heavily, tears flowing down his cheeks. His body trembled to the fact that he might of just lost his sister…

 _As of currently, Steelix escaped through the process of underground travel, that was at least until he got a taste of his own medicine and suddenly felt and saw the ground open up above, and a powerful force caused him to be propelled above ground. He was met with the face of an extremely angry Machoke named Brawl._

 _The Steelix cowered knowing that there was no chance of escape from Brawl, but what did he do wrong?_

" _You are one sick. Miserable. Creature." Brawl growled before snatching the Steelix's head right off from the rest of its body before crushing it with his bare hands, sending shattered mineral and blood everywhere…_

" _I swear ...Ruth._ _ **I will one day murder you...**_ "

* * *

 _Underground…_

Dusk came a deep 20 to 30 feet into the ground before he found Silver at the bottom of the pit, she was breathing, even if it was weak. Dusk growled, cursing himself for not being better, letting both Silver and Ray get hurt, he would never forgive himself for this…

He quickly hoisted Silver onto his back and started to climb up the dirt to bring her to the light. Ray eventually saw Dusk return a few moments later with Silver on his back, she looked to be hanging in there, if anything while it may have looked like she should have took a lot more damage, all that mattered was that she was okay!

Dusk set her down on the ground where she laid, Ray ran up to her and cuddled her fondly, purring was heard a little in his voice. Dusk still had that extremely worried look on his face. Silver looked at the two for a bit and smiled, how was she even able to smile right now. Dusk was stumped.

Silver licked her brother to tell him everything was alright seeing the stained fur on his face that came from his tears. But when she looked at Dusk, her heart stopped when she saw his face.. She suddenly started to feel a certain way, she always had something to say to the hound, but now that all of that started happening, what if he never found out what that was at all. Her ears went down as she thought about it.

A pokemon came to approach the three and they got ready for anything that could make this worse, it was a single Machoke. Ray growled weakly as well as Silver did the same, but instead a wave of relief hit Dusk, even if it was only by a little.

"Hold on guys...It's okay. I know him."

Silver and Ray calmed down a little, but were confused. The Machoke gave a wave to the group as he came to them, finally able to meet the whole group up close.

"Guys, this is Brawl. He's a good pokemon, so don't worry..." Dusk went on to explain a few things about him and everyone gave a good hello to their new ally and friend, and possibly Dusk's rival.

"I've noticed what has happened here, the only reason I haven't stepped in when I should have because it might have been too risky...So, I apologize, I have dealt with Razor myself." Brawl explained with a head held low. Silver tried to reassure him as well as the others.

"It's okay. Everyone…I already knew to protect myself beforehand, even though that pokemon was too heavy and big to keep off forever...But, i'm fine now. Thanks to Dusk…" The two blushed awkwardly and looked away from each other. Ray noticed this as well as Brawl, the Machoke knew the two would need some time alone, no one else would probably hunt them as long as no one knew Razor was dead, no other pokemon would hunt them this far out right now so he thought something quick.

"I think i'll round up a couple of sitrus berries for you all." Brawled announced before looking down at Ray. "You want to help me out little dude?"

The Vulpix nodded ecstatically wanting the chance to help out the group.

"There are some caves around here where you'll be safe until we get back, we two may be a while and those caves are huge. Don't be afraid to explore if you're interested, i'll show you to them now."

Dusk looked towards Silver, she slowly got up on her feet but showed to have some kind of a limp in her step and she almost fell over to the painful sensation, luckily, Dusk caught her though.

"Thanks…" Silver said with that sweet smile of hers, their eyes met for a moment.

"No problem…" The both of them slowly turned away again. Brawl went ahead and showed them to the cave quickly, the inside of it was pitch black and you could barely see a thing.

"You see, a friend of mine with illusive skills has made this cave look like just the walls of the chasm even if that isn't what you see. Point being only people I trust or with good hearts can see it. It's corny, but it's the best method of ensuring safety to the innocent, get comfortable." Brawl took Ray and put him on his shoulder.

"Like I said we'll be a while, see ya." The Machoke said walking off, leaving Dusk and Silver alone to go into the seemingly dark cavern.

* * *

 _With the Machoke and Vulpix…_

"So, uhm. Brawl, where do we find the sitrus berries?"

"I already have them stored away."

"What!?" Ray shouted but in a low voice. "Why didn't you bring them with you…?"

"I'm doing something special for Dusk and Silver. Trust me, they need it." He answered adding a wink to his comment. Ray tilted his head pondering what he meant, so Brawl had to explain it to him.

"You see, i'm pretty sure at some point you saw how friendly but awkward they seem around each other right?"

Ray nodded to his question, he was catching on pretty slowly and soon enough he realized what he meant. In fact Ray actually already wondered what it would be like if Silver were to date Dusk, his sister and best friend, not like it has ever been a thing before or anything like that…

"Uhm, yeah. I know what you mean." Ray said mulling his head over. Brawl laughed at this and pointed his finger to nowhere in particular.

"Ya know, there was a Poochyena somewhere around your age, if you were interested."

Ray blushed as he remember her name, the pup seemed a lot cuter to him by now than before. "Oh, we already met. Her name's Luna...Her family shouldn't be too far behind our group. They're following us but they don't want to be a bother so they're being a secret and stuff."

Brawl grew curious, so maybe that's why they had an extra stash of food. He made a mental note to see them sometime later today to see how they were.

Speaking of that, a certain familiar Mightyena happened to be on their tails…

* * *

 _Meanwhile…_

Dusk and Silver took a look into the cave before slowly stepping inside. The dark walls around gave a soft, golden glow, lighting up the path beautifully. Dusk and Silver looked around in amazement as the cavern came to life, never before have they saw something so beautiful and amazing to look at, then that's when they looked at each other…

"This place is amazing, isn't it...Dusk?"

"Yeah…" Dusk stared into those beautiful ocean blue eyes, ( _ **Feels good to bitch about those again.)**_ The soft golden glow reflected from her body, giving her fur an alluring glow. She was more beautiful than ever. Dusk's black fur and horns mixing in with the glow gave his features a more, ominous, but dreamy glow. Silver thought she was staring into a dream…

The two traveled deeper into the cave, thinking about each other in the private world of their minds…

" _To think...I was close to losing Silver. She's here with me now, beautiful as ever and with no one else around I feel, a lot more comfortable and open. It makes me think…"_

" _...what if I lose him now…? It wouldn't be fair if he never knew how I really felt about him, he's such a...handsome dog too…"_

The two thought, realizing their true feelings for one another. Their tails lightly hit each other as they softly wagged, at this point it just didn't seem to matter. This was one of those moments that you would have to make the most of…

* * *

 _Even More Meanwhile…_

Ray's ears twitched as he and Brawl passed by the time for a few hours, the shiny Vulpix warned the Machoke but he didn't really seemed worried and at that moment, a Mightyena appeared, eyes glowing red, with curiosity. _**And Determination.**_

"Shadow? What are you doing back here?" Asked the Machoke with a grin as Ray perked up recognizing the name.

"Hey buddy. I have been trying to find my friend Dusk for hours dude. Have you seen him?"

The Machoke raised his eyebrow. "What. You know that guy…?" He got curious.

Shadow nodded before craning his neck over to see the Vulpix that was behind him. "You're Ray right?"

Ray nodded and came forward into view, he guessed this guy was no harm as long as he was a friend of Dusk. It was weird that he knew who Brawl was as well.

"So Dusk _**WAS**_ that Houndoom you told me about. Interesting. Don't worry, he and Silver are fine for now. You might as well wait with the rest of us dude."

"Alright." Shadow submitted and sat down to talk with the others…

* * *

 _Back to Dusk and Silver…_

The two dogs continued to dwell on their feelings. The thoughts of comforting and loving each other clouding their minds. Then they came into the deepest part of the cave, a pond filled the most of it, the water only standing about a foot and seven inches tall.

The lights from the cave gave it a beautiful, sparkling glow. The two of them could stay here for ages. Without even thinking, Silver found herself play tackling Dusk into the pond causing a little splash like the limp she had faded away, their fur was soaked now. The two laughed for a little while before they caught a glance into each other's eyes again, but this time, there was more…

The rocks below the bond lit up with the same soft golden glow, lighting up the pond making the moment even more special, this was a one time moment…

"Silver...I have something I need to really tell you…" Said Dusk looking down a little, Silver smiled and lifted his head with her cute snout.

"I do to Dusk...But...you go first." Silver said shyly blushing a little, thinking she was silly to think Dusk was going to say what she wanted him to say, but…

"Silver...I. Really care about you...more than a friend…"

The wolf blushed realizing that she may have been wrong as Dusk continued. "The way you walk, the way you talk, how you smile...Everything about you has touched me in some type of way...Especially your eyes...they're...really amazing to look at…"

Dusk blushed hard as he looked away, neither of them could believe what he was saying. "Every time you frown, cry, or get hurt...I feel dead inside just thinking of it, I bare you to leave my side like that again...I really love you Silver…"

Silver's ears perked up as she blushed as madly as Dusk did, her ears then laid flat shyly as she prepared to say something to her dark admirer.

"Dusk I feel the exact same way about you, I was sad at first you didn't like me. Then we got to know each other, each day passed our bond only came stronger...That first night we spent together...I really wanted to tell you how cute I thought you were…" The two blushed, their tails never ceased wagging only stopping to rest on each other before wagging again.

"You're so smart and confident and do anything to protect us, no matter how bad your past was. You kept your eyes open toward the future, even in this situation we're in. You give me hope and you were always there even when you didn't make it in time. I can't really explain how much it means to me when you said I reminded you of your mother…" A small tear formed in her eye as Dusk listened, blushing.

"I love you too Dusk, just for you...I want all of you. Even your flaws, as long as it's you...You're the only Houndoom I need…"

The two stared at each other, their gaze locked now like nothing could tear them apart. The only question was...what now?

" _Silver...actually likes me too...what do I do…?"_

" _I still can't believe Dusk wants me...I'm not sure what to do anymore."_

The two lovers were lost in the world now, like nothing of the outside could bother them… After a few seconds of complete silence, Silver slowly raised her muzzle up to Dusk's and pressed lightly against his. The two felt like the world around them was now shattered, Silver's muzzle was so soft and warm to the touch, Silver could say the same for Dusk. Their eyes closed as they gotten more used to the feeling...their bodies scooted closer and closer to where air couldn't even breath…

The two pulled back slowly, blushing still, this feeling was completely new to the both of them, but they knew words wouldn't needed to be used to embrace it any further… The two stepped out of the lake and just laid together, Silver pushing her head down on Dusk's who put his head down, with bodies pressed together and brown, white, black, and red fur mixing, they closed their eyes never letting this moment end. That's when Dusk knew what he saw in the water that one fateful night... _A Luvdisc..._

* * *

 _Later on…_

Brawl, Ray, and Shadow decided it was about time to go check on the crew as the news about the Steelix wouldn't have lasted long. Brawl has explained if the two actually have decided to take a walk through the cave, the pure aura of the place should have already healed them...He still brought the berries so the gang would have food.

They have made their way inside the cave and once they have made it to the deep end, there they were. Silver and Dusk napping with each other, _how cute…_

" _ **HEY!"**_ The three guys yelled out with a grin. Dusk's eyes shot open and was automatically filled with embarrassment, the only reason he didn't bound up was because Silver's ead was still on his, her eyes fluttered open slowly as she got a look on the scent. There was Dusk below her, Brawl, Ray, and a Mightyena. She lifted her head up yawning cutely as Dusk stood to his feet and he noticed Shadow.

"Shadow!?"

"I've been looking forever for you through here dude, luckily you've met a friend of my own Brawl. And I see you've got your own thing going on." He teased as Dusk blushed more, Silver giggled guessing Dusk would be suddenly shy about telling others about this, since he's like a lone wolf or some shit. And it was about time she finally met Dusk's only friend when he was a pup…

"I guess you're Shadow, Dusk told us a lot about you." She giggled as the Mightyena grinned telling her a silent yep. Silver looked at Dusk before blushing a little remembering how amazing of a time she had with Dusk just only a hour ago.

"Thanks you two." She said, obviously catching on to this being Brawl's plan from the beginning eventually. All five of the friends talked and laughed for a while before the Machoke named Brawl got serious for a moment.

"Alright guys, I finally have a way to take down Ruth. Free the other pokemon, and get out of here all in one swift motion… We gotta act fast but it can be a big success if we all work together…"

"But...what about Luna and her family?" Ray asked. Dusk, and Silver tilted their head at him, he would have explaining to do but Brawl chuckled.

"We got their back as well as everyone's, and with Shadow here to help us out we can definitely do it!"

Brawl extended his hand out, soon joined by the four paws of the rest of the canine group…

 _Things were certainly looking bright for our crew and Shadow has finally returned just in the neck of time. What daring plan does Brawl have up his sleeve that will accomplish so much at once? How will Silver and Dusk act around each other now…? Only time will tell as it moves on slowly…_

* * *

 _ **Hey everyone I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, plus muhuhahaha, if you were expecting a lemon then well TOO BAD. I torture ya know? Ya gotta wait for the next installment to come haha. Also i'm generally surprised at how long this part finally become real because normally romance crap probably would've came like chapter two XD. Anyway, Review on this story if ya want to because I love feedback! Thank you all for reading and I hope you're waiting hard for the next chapter to come!**_


	11. (Part 2 Conclusion (Finally Right?))

_**Midnight Hound**_

 _ **Chapter 9: The Great Escape (As If It Wasn't Obvious)**_

 _ **Author's Note: Hello everyone, i'm surprised that you all managed to make it this far so I would like to welcome you to Chapter 9 of my story Midnight Hound. We've come a long way from a simple start but I am glad to still be writing this fanfic and hopefully I will keep doing so until the end. (Sorry for being inactive for this so long it's a lot to explain.) Without further ado let's get right to it. (Live the Write Life as always.)**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to the dudes at Game Freak and I only own my characters. Hope you all will enjoy.**_

 _ **This is by far the longest chapter I have written for this story! (And I stress the emphasis on 'by far'.) I sure hope it was worth the wait everybody!**_

* * *

 _Early the Next Morning_

Ray was running through the forest area of the edge pathway not far from where the group was nested, it was still early possibly around three or four in the morning. He sniffed around the ground before he started digging at it revealing a hole that has become quite the familiar sight for the little fellow.

He went his way inside, finding Luna the Poochyena and her family who appeared to be waiting anxiously. Luna yipped in happiness as she saw Ray and ran over to lick him on the cheek, making him blush a bit.

"So, do your friends know we're following them still?" Mother asked.

Ray shook his head in disagreement before speaking up. "We have a plan to get everyone out of here, but first you gotta tell everyone to get ready. Brawl said this was only a one time chance."

Everyone's ears perked up when they heard the name Brawl and they nodded in understanding knowing this was a serious situation. Everyone leaned in as the fox told all he knew about the plan…

* * *

Dusk sat silently within their hideout, reflecting on everything that has happened since their group came here. It's only been around two or three days yet so much has transpired. He thought about his new friend Brawl, his old pal Shadow, his little pal Ray, and his girlfriend, Silver. Dusk tried to keep his mind calm, now it wasn't the time to be worrying, he would need to have confidence in his friends if anyone hopes to get out of this place alive…

* * *

 _A Couple of Hours Ago…_

" _Alright, so this is how it's going down." Brawl spoke up, the entire group of canines listening in to see what he has to say._

" _Ray. You'll be in charge of telling everyone of the good pokemon around here of the upcoming plan…"_

 _Ray nodded. "Alright!"_

" _So I am sure you all have noticed the range of mountains around here, that whole area Ruth calls his den, and over there is a huge river flow. It doesn't lead directly to your destination but it is well enough a great way to get all of us and many more out of this place alive at once…"_

 _Everyone nodded in understanding but Brawl was not finished yet._

" _Meanwhile, Ruth will be holding a pack meeting around said area. I have decided to set up an ambush. So while we escape the powerful good pokemon will make sure several of the evil spirited pokemon, including Ruth, are taken down. But there will still be too many for us to fight off there so it's all we can do. As for Ruth, I am not sure about him for now. His armor is strong but we can try our best." Brawl concluded as he looked around to see if everyone else was aware of the plan finding faces of conferment among each of his friends._

* * *

Silver came into the cave quietly, her face was rather straight when she saw Dusk, who was now her mate. Dusk of course didn't take long to notice her presence. "So...you ready?" Dusk asked, trying to hide the concern in his voice but it seemed for some reason Silver read him like an open book. (Can all females do this?)

"Don't worry Dusk." Silver said in a comforting like way as she walked over to Dusk proceeding to lick his cheek. "I believe in us, especially you." She whispered, Dusk was kind of left with a blush spread across his face but he quickly snapped out of it and nodded to her words.

"Yeah, I know." He said with a smile before the shiny Vulpix named Ray came in looking as if he has completed a job well done.

"Everyone's informed now guys we're good to go!" He said with a cheery grin. Despite the challenge they were probably going to face, the pup had some amount of adrenaline building up in him. Silver and Dusk nodded then Shadow came inside. He sat down waiting.

"Everything's going to schedule, we should start making our way towards Ruth's place now. We'll have to move fast if we want to reach there by dawn. Good luck my friends. We'll make it...and then Dusk, we'll go to the Sandian Beaches...it will be worth it. I promise." He said simply before exited the cave.

"I've never doubted you." Dusk said to himself before standing up on his four paws. Claws scraping through the ground, freezing fumes blowing from his nostrils. "Let's do this you two, not just for us, but for everyone else who suffered living here."

Silver ad Ray roared up an agreement with him. "You know, I don't know why everyone was so scared of you back in the forest Dusk. You are way nicer than they are to you." Ray said with a gleeful grin, Silver nodded.

"Thanks little buddy. Stay safe you two, i'll see you there. As the plan goes Shadow and I will take care of anyone that'll get in the way. You two make sure everyone gets to their destination as planned." Dusk said to his faithful companions before he left the cave. With the plan setting slowly but surely, they only needed everything to work now, and maybe a little luck to go with it.

* * *

Brawl sat within his den with was somewhere within the mountains where Ruth claimed as his territory. The room was dark and he was sitting in a meditating position. There was also another sitting in that same position across from him. It was a well known Psychic type pokemon known as Alakazam. It was a female and she was concentrating deeply.

" _You should not be so stressed Brawl. You must calm your mind of these tensions you have. Do you have no trust in your friends ability to triumph?"_ She spoke into Brawl's mind.

Brawl didn't move or say anything, at least not physically. " _Yeah, Saffron. I just do not want any of them to be hurt because of my plan. I can't help but think what if-"_

" _You shouldn't be thinking of anything. You know this, if you believe you can succeed then you will. You must have faith in not only your friends and the people you're trying to save, but also yourself. I shall go to my position as you asked, but please remember this, or we shall all suffer a horrible fate. I'd hate to look into the future of this, but naturally...Your future is your own to pursue."_ The Alakazam gave a trustworthy smile before she stood on her two feet. "Good luck." She said before teleporting off to somewhere. Brawl was left in silence.

* * *

 _Not Long Later…_

Everyone within Ruth's pack began to assemble, from all throughout the area of edge pathway. Large and small pokemon alike under the malicious Aggron's control were now huddled together. Brawl eyed them all over carefully. There were many of which who swore complete allegiance to their master and that were glad and blood thirsty enough to handle his dirty work for him. There were others however, only wanting the power to help the good pokemon that were stuck here just like him. Machoke eyed this one Floatzel he knew rather well who was sitting at the front, the male Floatzel gave him the same kind of stare and they both smiled at one another.

It wasn't long until the guest of honor appeared himself. With a malevolent smirk across his face. While this went on, a certain Mightyena snuck his way into the crowd surprisingly without anyone noticing.

* * *

Dusk was now finally making his way towards the mountains and with the quick speed he has it wasn't even a problem to do some searching around. There weren't actually any type of guards or anything for some reason, this kind of made Dusk wonder but for the moment he was fine with his luck and proceeded on his way. The area that Ruth called his territory proved to be much larger up close, mountains that stood around sixty feet high. At the entrance awaited one pokemon, a certain female Alakazam named Saffron. Since she has agreed to take watch of the area, it would be easy to infiltrate it especially since everyone else was at the meeting. Saffron obviously had a high role here, since Brawl told Dusk to expect her, he had no need of being cautious but something seemed odd about her.

Dusk walked up to her, the two of them stared intensely into each other's eyes. Apparently, Saffron was getting the same odd feeling from Dusk, it felt like she knew him from somewhere. But as there were more important things to take care of,that would have to be put on hold. "You must be Dusk. Please be still for a moment." She told him before transmitting some of her psychic energy into Dusk's mind. The hound blinked a few times wondering what she did to him.

"There. Now you will know who to attack and who to leave alone. I will do the rest with everyone else when they get here. Take the straight path from here, it will take you all the way to the room where the meeting is taking place. This must be done quickly." She told him, Dusk nodded and was quick to get on his way with a quick "Thanks." Saffron looked after Dusk went on his way and was soon rather shocked. "He has grown so powerful from since he was a pup...Amazing..."

Soon after Dusk appeared, Silver and Ray were eventually at the entrance of the mountains meeting up with Saffron. "You must be the Alakazam Brawl told us about." Silver said with confidence as Saffron confirmed it true. "Everyone is here, they're currently scaling the mountain as we speak." The wolf pokemon continued to say.

Dusk meanwhile was making his way up the large mountains, as Saffron stated the path was clearly laid out for him to get there. Though Saffron was given the duty of watch it would seem impossible that this whole area would have no security. Little did he know what a huge ego Ruth had, he probably would like all of those eyes being on him at once. Eventually Dusk would here a large roar of applause, happening to be when Ruth stomped his way into the main room. Dusk picked up his pace.

* * *

The crowd shushed to silence as quickly as they have cheered. Brawl looked at the whole crowd. " _Is that..everyone…?"_ He thought to himself. The room itself was rather large being able to fit a few hundred pokemon inside, there were multiple entrances to this room and one exit, which happened to be behind Ruth, leading to the river that would aid their escape while taking out as many enemies as possible. (This makes it much less of a possibility they will be hunted so it is actually a necessity.) Ruth began to speak the moment that Dusk was nearly inside the room, of course he stopped within the middle corridor and concealed himself in the darkness, as he was basically public enemy number one around these parts. "Today, marks the day of our triumph. During the past few days we've have plenty of casualties thanks to a certain mutt and his other mongrel pals. It doesn't matter too much, the scum who fell the past few days were weak, not worthy to coexist with the strong. I already know for a fact today's the day we will take them out. As it turns out, a certain little birdie told me of this cute little plan to take us out." Brawl and Dusk widened their eyes. How was this possible!?

Saffron heard the entire conversation from where she stood, she knew everyone was in grave danger! How did she not foresee this!

"Come here my helpful comrade." The Aggron said before a quite proud looking Umbreon walked up to the front. Brawl growled within his mind, cursing himself for not seeing this coming. The moment the the dark cat, fox, whatever stood next to him Ruth claws struck down like lightning into the Umbreon's neck and the impact was no less than thunder. As his blood shed and squirted onto the ground he wondered why...he thought he did a good job until he heard his leader speak to him. "You know I don't like snitches." Ruth said coldly before his claws tore through the Umbreon's throat, once he withdrew, the dark type pokemon laid limp on the ground. Ruth proceeded to wipe his blood on his body, enjoying the pain and terror that Umbreon experienced before his death, it was sadly enjoyable to him. Of course, this only lasted for about a minute.

"Apparently, we have unwanted guests paying us a visit, and it appears they were only lead here by my one and only son." He continued, turning to glare at Brawl who growled and glared the same way back. "You are no father of mine you damn monster, we are nothing alike."

Meanwhile, hell was breaking loose on the mountain side. Pokemon started to attack our heroes from out of the blue it seemed. This was not going to plan. Silver, Ray, and the others had no use but to fight them off and hurry to meet up with the others before it was too late. Seeing there was no reason to act faithful toward Ruth any longer, Saffron also helped all she can with the fight.

* * *

Roughly a little more than half of the pokemon in the meeting room stood on their feet. Glaring, growling, hissing at Brawl their supposed leader to greatness. The other pokemon only stood to blend in, still waiting on Brawl to give some kind of signal. "I have taken care of you since you were young, you have no place to speak especially for this treason."

"I have never swore allegiance to you Ruth. You've killed my mother, you control others only so you can hurt others. You scar children and the weak. The only reason you've kept me alive because I am the strongest one among this pack, you think anyone who's strong is supposed to be like you. I use my strength in helping others, while you use yours to torture innocent lives and turn pokemon corrupt. Those actions should never be forgiven. You are nothing but a murderer." Brawl said clenching his fist, tearing up a little but he was quick to wipe his tears. "I promised everyone that I will get them away from here, and you're damn sure not going to stop me." Brawl said giving a mighty roar before the pokemon into the room went into sudden attack mode. Ruth looked toward the chaos in disbelief that there were so many spies right under his nose. He lost his temper and then proceeded to strike Brawl, at least until a pair a sturdy horns blocked his attack.

Outside a lot of killing was taking place. There were a lot of screams and yelps as blood went flying. Silver used the mountains to her advantage using her rock type abilities to raise the ground into multiple Stone Edge attacks that went stabbing through her enemies bodies. Ray using his enhanced Fire abilities thanks to some extra training from Dusk to scorch his foes skin off even though he was young, inexperienced, and not evolved. A few of the evil pokemon decided to ditch the fight and live to fight another day, not expecting their foes to be this strong.

It didn't mean the battle was won or that it would be easily won neither. A lot of pokemon in the good side were falling too but they were determined to make sure everyone would live to see life on the outside. There were a few psychic, fairy, and grass type healers on their side. Ruth's team only wanted brute force, of course this would eventually leave them exhausted but more were coming. Saffron being a skilled user of her psychic powers used her abilities to basically melt the minds of multiple enemies at a time which was a huge help even if it was a little disgusting to watch their heads bust with their bodily fluids afterward. One thing that was really concerning Silver was the fact that all of these children were here, having to watch all of this and possibly getting hurt too. Saffron noticed the thoughts that were plaguing her mind and was quick to come up with a suggestion.

"I can lead the children the long way around, it might be a bit dangerous for them to take the river anyway. If anyone comes to stand in my way, you've already seen that I can handle it. Our allies our outnumbered in there and they need as much support as possible. We should all meet at the plateau area, I will be waiting for you all there with the children. There is no reason to distrust me." Without a second thought all of the parents of the pack were quick to agree, trusting Saffron with the safety and health of their children. Ray was the only child not to move from his spot.

"Quickly Ray. We must get moving." Saffron told him, Luna looked worried from the group of children pokemon. "No, I want to fight. With Dusk, my sister, and everyone else! I want to be brave like all of them! Please let me fight! I can do this!" Ray pleaded. Silver looked at her brother, almost going into tears at how much he has grown up since she met him. She gave a confirming nod to Saffron. "I believe he's strong enough to fight with us. Go Saffron and make sure everyone's safe." Silver told her, Saffron nodded with a smile as well.

Just as they were going to part ways, Luna quickly ran over to Ray and gave him a hard kiss towards his muzzle before running back, leaving Ray with a strong blush. It didn't take long of course for more enemies to come out lashing at them like annoying flies. Saffron quickly gave the group a mental map of how to get to their destination. Two healers of Psychic and Fairy type followed after Saffron to take watch over the children as Silver, Ray, and the others prepared to fight them off.

* * *

Dusk's horns were able to stop Ruth's attack right in its tracks. (Rhyme.) The hellhound thrusted himself forward actually making the large metal dino stumble back. Ruth, however, only gave a snicker. "Nice of you to show your ugly muzzle mutt. Thanks to you my power over this pack is falling apart. I swear i'll enjoy tearing those horns off of your head very slowly after I pound you into oblivion." Brawl stepped forward next to Dusk, ready to fight by his side. "You've already forgotten you're dealing with me too, Ruth! I swear this will all end here and now even you kill us both I know we will succeed!" Both Brawl and Dusk got into their battle stances ready to do whatever it takes to take him out. Ruth, glared intensely at the two, killing them was going to be so glorious indeed. Of course there was the battle of many going on beside them.

As promised all of the Machoke's allies were powerful and were fairing off fairly well against their enemies. Even if Ruth had actually prepared and only left his strongest in the meeting room. It wasn't any different from the battle going on outside. Blood was laying to waste everywhere, but everyone refused to accept death as the heat and excitement of battle clouded their minds. But the only way everyone would win this is if the others actually get here, which would actually be quite a while. Shadow and the Floatzel from earlier were apparently doing the best of the fighting. The Floatzel was attacking as many enemies as possible using the streams that flowed around the den to amplify his water attacks and as for Shadow his Dark Type moves proved to very powerful doing so much as even paralyzing and other strange status effects which the other pokemon on their side took as an advantage and took them out quickly. Of course some of the enemies were better at dealing with this than others.

Brawl was the first to try and get a punch onto his father though it was easier said and done. Brawl was way faster but soon as the punch landed to Ruth's chest nothing seemed to happen. Brawl looked in disbelief before Ruth snatched up his arm and hurled him straight at Dusk who didn't see it coming and the both of them were sent flinging towards the wall as Ruth roared. The two of them growled before Dusk spoke to Brawl. "You have to focus Brawl. I know what rides on this but you're blinding yourself by being too serious." Dusk told him. "What do you mean? I hit him square on." Brawl replied before getting up on his own two feet. "You're only fighting the armor itself, you have the fight the one inside the armor. I had to learn to lesson the hard way, and Ruth is going to prove to be much more powerful than my opponent back then." Dusk said standing on his four paws, Brawl nodded, even though he was a Machoke. Brute strength attacking was kind of his nature. Dusk didn't take long to try and charge at the brutal dinosaur who couldn't believe his luck the mutt was being so stupid. Before he could snatch up Dusk in his claw however Dusk quickly and nimbly jumped above his arm and stabbed him in the eye with his blade like tail.

Ruth roared in agony as he personally ripped Dusk's tail out from his socket and held his claw over his left eye. Blood spilled onto the ground though he proceeded to attack Dusk with a powerful kick into the side. The canine kept his ground and backed away towards Brawl. "See what I mean? If you focus you can find more weak points than just exposed flesh. Maybe you can even punch through his armour if you use your mind with your power instead of just plain blindly." Dusk whispered. Brawl thought about it for a moment but it didn't take him long to nod, he couldn't believe how much he had learned from this Houndoom. He knew for a fact this plan would succeed with him here but the battle wasn't over yet.

"You...you mutt. I wasn't able to see that coming. Lucky you. I will enjoy scrapping your body after this, and I mean that literally." He said breathing a little hard. "Just shut up and fight if you're so intent on doing that then." Dusk taunted, making Ruth roar in vexation before rampaging their way. Sure making Ruth this angry would probably be suicidal but it wasn't hard to be able to find two of his weaknesses already. His ego and his pride. Brawl noticed this could be of useful a long time ago but he didn't think it would be here and now. With all of this help, but with also a lot of foes as well. Although he wasn't all sure if it was possible, there would actually be a way of taking him down quickly, he only needed the time to think.

Outside was still all out chaos but nonetheless thanks to the teamwork of everyone, it was not too complicated of a task to eradicate their enemies quickly. Everyone was tired now and needed time to recuperate which the healers made it extremely quick. There didn't seem to anymore bad guys to fend off and any remaining made a run for it knowing they wouldn't win. Ray was faring amazingly, especially being the youngest fighter here. Silver was of course quick to take notice of her little brothers skilled. Whatever Dusk did with him, it made him a much better battler overall. "Alright guys, it seems like we have this area secure! We need to head to the main den quickly. Since this plan was failed we'll go back through the main entrance, I have a plan, it's simplistic, but I'm sure it'll work. We must hurry." Silver called out to everyone, receiving a chorus of agreement.

* * *

Meanwhile, the battle raged on deep inside the mountains of the Edge Pathway. Using an amazing display teamwork, Dusk and Machoke certainly kept Ruth on his toes but his armor still proved to be the biggest challenge to overcome. Ruth's armor however was starting to get a little rusty and a couple of dents could been seen across his body. Things seemed to be working for their side finally. But as they continued to battle for a while, other pokemon began seeing their leader struggling and proceeded to escape the battle they were fighting like cowards and attack the freedom fighters completely out of the blue. The two tried to fend them off but it wasn't long until the metal dino gave the two a heavy iron slam right onto their backs. Brawl and Dusk yelled out in pain spitting up blood,their bones would've been crushed easily if they were not trained to handle that kind of weight. Ruth got up and spat on the ground before he growled deeply, his rage skyrocketing beyond comprehension. There is one thing he didn't like. One thing that he truly hated so much that his blood would boil so hot his metal armor would probably melt if it wasn't a metaphor. That's when people helped him with his own dirty work, it was like kicking dirt onto his pride and it was pretty obvious that he would proceed to murder his little helpers.

The two heroes breathed heavily for a moment but quickly their muzzles were grinning. "I knew they would eventually help if we made it look like he was the ropes...I have a way we can end him, Dusk….we just need-"

"THE CALVARY HAS ARRIVED!" Ray the Shiny Vulpix shouted to the top of his lungs as the pokemon started to flood in from all of the corridors. Much to the dismay of their enemies, who decided to just give up and run away. Ruth stopped his killing spree to see all of these pokemon raiding his den. Dusk and even Brawl was surprised. "Even...I didn't know there were this many pokemon that I helped…" He began to say before feeling Dusk pat him on the back with a paw. "You are a good person...Brawl." Dusk managed to say. Silver, Ray, Shadow, and the Floatzel were quick to run over to the two fighters. Silver helped Dusk up and gave him and nuzzled him affectionately. "Dusk, i'm so glad you all are alright. I'll get a healer over here quickly." Silver said quickly before going off. The Floatzel proceeded to help get Brawl up before kissing his cheek. "Brawl, that was one amazing battle you fought there. Are you okay?" He asked worriedly, Brawl only laughed it off. "Don't worry Brine i'm alright. I'm sure I have told you of these guys, they're the main ones who made all of this possible." Everyone gave a friendly hello to each other before Silver came back with a Gardevoir, who quickly restored their energy back to full. Everything was seemingly happy and fun before Ruth gave a mighty roar. "HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHOSE TERRITORY YOU'RE INVADING CRETINS!" He yelled before stomping towards all of the fighters.

Brawl quickly reacted and put his strength to the ultimate test as he put his force up against Ruth's. "EVERYBODY LEAVE NOW!" Just like that a vast majority of the pokemon left quickly through the main escape route, besides Dusk, Ray, Silver, Shadow, and Brine. "You guys leave too, i'll help Brawl out all I can. You need to make sure everyone's to safety." Everyone understood but were still worried. "Be safe, please." Silver said before taking Ray and going off. Shadow followed. "Dusk, please make sure Brawl is safe." Brine said before following the others. "I will…" Dusk said before making his way over to where Brawl and Ruth were fighting. Dusk rammed into Ruth hard enough to get him off of Brawl, earning cracks in horns and armor. Without any type of warning, Brawl snatched up Dusk and ran with him towards the exit. "What are you doing we need to finish him don't we!?"

"Trust me on this Dusk, please! I have it under control." Brawl shouted as they made way throughout a dark corridor which was the same exit everyone else used. It lead to an open room to where there was an opening, one jump of faith would lead straight for the river to where they were so intent on going to, to where everyone else already went. Brawl only stood there, still keeping Dusk gripped tight. "Brawl! What's the meaning of this!? Tell me now!" Dusk demanded, Brawl only replied with a grin. Large foot stomps could be heard coming their way. That's when the canine realized what he was up to. "No. I'm not letting you do that!" Dusk lashed out his strongest at Brawl but the pain meant nothing to him now. He knew exactly what he would have to do. "He can't swim, and blinded by his own rage he will storm at us without hesitation of the area around him. I couldn't have done this without your help, this would be for nothing if all of those pokemon were still here." Ruth rampaged in, destroying each wall his body ran into. "Thanks Dusk." He said before tossing Dusk off into the river and just then Ruth lunged his body at Brawl and kept him in a tight grip but this sent them flying over the edge and eventually straight into the river. If he was going down he would damn sure take Brawl with him.

"NOOOO!" Dusk yelled before falling into the river with a big splash, the current was strong now unlike its usual nature so even Dusk couldn't swim back and help Brawl, maybe it was just how life played everyone. "Brawl...damn it all Brawl why…?" Dusk said to himself as he drifted down the river. Although he could've swam the direction of the current to move much faster, he just didn't feel like it. The first time he remembered such a lost for a long time...he drifted longer and longer, it was nearly lasting an eternity at this pace. Half an hours has passed, it was certain that Brawl has drowned by now. "You were a noble and great pokemon Brawl. I wanted to fight you one day again. I can't imagine how I am going to tell everyone about this, and the fact I wasn't able to help…" Dusk said to the sky before starting to swim. That was at least until he heard something breach from underwater gasping for sweet air. Dusk turned around, and he couldn't even believe his eyes. "Brawl! How is that even possible!? Amazing escape!" Brawl still couldn't talk for at least three minutes however, but he eventually responded. "Like I said...he can't swim. Being a Rock and Steel type it would be highly unlikely that he would learn how to hold his breath for long. Being with Brine all of this time he eventually taught me how to hold the air into my body. I didn't get too much training but i'm alive right now surprisingly...I thought I would surely be a goner with his grip. You can learn a lot from that Floatzel...let's get to the others...before we get too exhausted and we both drown." Brawl laughed swimming ahead of him and Dusk followed suit. Thanks to the work of our heroes, peace and hope has come to hundreds of pokemon...and now, it was finally time to put the troubles of the past behind them. Brawl's mother would be looking down on him proudly…

* * *

 _ **Phew...hey everyone. That was one long ass chapter to write and I certainly hope that you enjoyed it! Thank you all for reading and review if ya can or want. It helps a lot. Anyway, stick around guys! The adventures aren't ending here!**_


	12. Before Part 3

**Midnight Hound**

 **Chapter 10: Continuing To Success**

 _ **Author's Note: Hello everyone, I want to welcome all of you to the next installment of Midnight Hound, now unveiling...Chapter 10! Anyways, my fellows I don't want to take your time too long, so let's go ahead and get right back where we left off!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to the dudes at Game Freak and I only own my characters. Hope you all will enjoy! Also this chapter is kinda short, sorry about that people.**_

* * *

 _That Evening At Some Meadow..._

As the sun was starting to set, Silver, Ray, and the others have finally met up with Saffron and the rest of the children she took after ridding their fur,scales, and hairs of water. It was a happy reunion for the few hundred Pokemon that were there.

Parents and children alike being brought back to their loved ones in one piece. Silver, Ray, Shadow, and Brine looked at them all rather proudly, it was nearly unbelievable that such a miracle has happened, everyone present was already looking better by comparison.

Brine started to get worried soon enough however, now looking a little frantically around. Everyone present wondered what was bothering him, soon however, Brine's eyes lit up with happiness as he soon saw two approaching figures, one was tall and quite muscular while the other being a somewhat tall quadruped hound with huge horns.

It didn't take everybody long to figure out who these exhausted heroes were and everyone was now giving out roars and cheers to the two. The two of them blushed awkwardly never really being the center of all this positive attention before.

Brine was quick to Aqua Jet over to Brawl, tackling him to the ground with a huge hug. Silver and Ray did the same to Dusk who didn't see it coming and also collapsed on his back with his two travel companions.

While Ray was playfully chomping on Dusk's horn, Silver gave a quick kiss on Dusk's cheek, making the hound blush furiously more than he ever has before.

Soon enough like the other two males of the party, Ray was also tackled to the soft grass below him with the same affection by a now well known Poochyena, she licked his face fondly as Ray laughed, trying to get her to stop.

Now that everyone had found their loved ones, everything was rather calm now. Everyone was casually chatting, eating, and having a good time as the pokemon gave their exhausted bodies a rest.

There was only one thought that concerned Dusk now, it was actually something he had been thinking about since making their plan to escape.

"Hey Brawl, what you all planning to do now?"

The question also peaked the curiosity of Ray, Silver, and Shadow.

"I have no will to hinder your own mission, guys. I have decided that for now, Brine and I will help all of these guys, our friends, find a good place to call home. Everyone who suffered with us deserves a place where they will live happily, I'll admit I haven't thought of what would come after that. Still, as always I will always put the needy first. I feel that someday though, we will meet again."

Ray's eyes began to water and before he knew it he was running straight over to Brawl.

Brawl was happy to pick Ray up and give him a tight hug, a tear sneaking its way from his eye as well.

A smile was brought to the faces of everyone present as well as a few tears. It seemed like it was just going to be the original crew again on their own after this.

* * *

Luna looked over to Ray who didn't even notice. Tears were also beginning to build up in her eyes, though she did not allow herself to show it.

This would be the last day she saw Ray, she never told her parents she wanted to travel with Ray like she wanted to, she was too shy. Luna's parents saw that she was near the point of breaking into tears, and they had a pretty good reason to think why.

Luna ran over to Ray and Brawl now sobbing as well. The Machoke was fighting to hold back more tears as he held both children, who cried into each others shoulders.

Brawl would have to admit, he would certainly miss everyone of his new allies and he almost wished it didn't have to be this way. As if it was spreading like a disease, Silver also put her head into Dusk's side and cried. Dusk however knew that it would all come to this, though he didn't proceed to cry like nearly everyone else did, though it seemed like a new sight for the dog.

The night that immediately followed was filled with both joy and sorrow, their last night together before they had to split apart, all beginning the next chapter of their lives.

Since everyone still had strength left to gain, everyone slept soundly, the nightmares no longer haunted them. Since tomorrow was the morning victory and closure would shine at last on them, they saw no big deal in sleeping until sunrise came upon them rather unexpectedly.

Everyone started to wake up, feeling a little bit draggy from the really long sleep they haven't experienced in so long. The group wasn't late however to say their goodbye's.

Brine was giving big bugs to everyone being the kind, gentle sea weasel he was. Brawl held out his hand to his respected ally and friend Dusk, who gladly extended his tail to his hand and the two shook.

"Dusk, you've been a true friend to me, even when we first met, when we fought you were already teaching me things I didn't know about. How to fight more strategically, how to trust and listen to others more. You and your friends are who made it possible for everyone to have hope again, I want to thank you for that even if you could have eventually left that dreaded place on your own without too much trouble, you still cut your important schedule to help us, me..."

"You helped me plenty of times too Brawl, without all of your assistance, Silver would still be injured, I honestly wouldn't know what would happen if I let Ray get hurt like that too, and it was your plan that saved everyone here, so give yourself some credit, my friend."

The two withdrew each other's limbs.

"I'll make sure to one day see you, wherever you are when I decide to you can promise I will come see you." Brawl concluded before he shouted out loud to everyone. "Alright everyone, we should get moving!" He called out to everyone before giving a wave to his friends.

"So long everyone." Brawl said finally before leaving with the huge pack.

Luna slowly turned from Dusk and his friends as she started to leave too but someone called to her. "Luna where are you going?" Called her mother, who was with Dusk and the others along with her mate. Luna turned around to them.

"We're going with Dusk and his friends." Luna's dad called with a smile, both Luna and Ray's eyes brightened up immensely and they two got really giddy and happy.

Ray could barely contain his excitement, at least until he saw Dusk chuckling to himself, then he straightened himself up to try and look more serious before Luna tackled Ray full of happiness.

"We can actually come with you!?" Luna asked before she looked over to Brawl who gave her a smile.

"Have fun and be safe you all, i'll be sure to visit!" He told Luna's family as they all barked happily. Everything seemed to be settled between the two groups and the last of the Pokemon were starting to leave as Saffron suddenly appeared in front of their group, shocking everyone, especially Dusk.

Like when they first met, Dusk had an awkward feeling about the Psi Pokemon still. "Saffron, before you go...you must tell me who you are and why do you feel so familiar to me, I don't understand it and I know it isn't normal."

* * *

Saffron gave the Houndoom a nod. "I know, I remember you quite well now, it has been many years, Dusk. You have a strong memory for sure if you remember so much from your past...Dusk, I am sure well enough sure that your memories have been plaguing you since your childhood and I shall give you the answers you have been looking for."

She held her arms behind her back, as Dusk nodded ready to take anything she had to say. "Dusk, I found you one day while you were still a small, weak Houndour. You were frightened, pale, I saw many horrible things within your memory. To put it in simple words, I attempted to give your life peace, by erasing your memory." She continued, everybody's eyes opened in shock at what they heard. Dusk wasn't sure what to say to her.

"Then, I was only a Kadabra who didn't know whether I was doing you a kindness or a burden at that time. I apologize sincerely, Dusk. If I knew only one thing is that after I did what I did only you could strive to become great afterwards. Somehow, I knew leaving you alone would be best, bringing you back with me would of course not be a wise decision."

The psychic pokemon gave a bow before walking away. "Saffron wait." Dusk managed to say making Saffron stop, but she didn't turn.

Dusk had a small smile on his face. "Thank you, for everything you did." He said, making Saffron smile too not that anyone saw. "You're welcome. Safe travels, and I wish you the best for the future Dusk, your journey does not end here." She concluded before she teleported away from the scene.

Everyone was silent for a moment, only seven Pokemon remained. Dusk, Ray, Silver, Shadow, Luna, and Luna's mother and father. (Names are Twilight and Dawn which I totally don't think I mentioned when I introduced them. Whoops.)

"C'mon guys. We have places to go too." Dusk said with confidence, everyone around him showing him a big grin.

"Shadow, I guess you'll be leading the way since you're the one who told us to come this far. Should be worth it." Dusk told his long time Mightyena pal who gave a smile.

"We're actually...rather close by the looks of it." Shadow said taking in the sights around him. "In fact, we should be there in a few hours if we keep up a fast pace!"

Every canine present barked for joy and they were quick to set on their way with nothing stopping them. They had fun, they laughed, it was happy times all around and six hours passed by like nothing and now it was the afternoon.

The grass underneath their paw pads was beginning to disappear now and be replaced by sand and mostly rocks, this was a new territory indeed. Shadow looked around, he could smell the ocean which was just over the horizon. "Finally...home…" Shadow said finally making everyone tilt their heads.

"Is this your home, Shadow? Is this what you wanted to show us?" Dusk asked making Shadow chuckle. "Not just my home, it's your home too Dusk, as well as everyone else's home too." Now Shadow was really confusing the gang.

"Heh, look over there." Shadow said with a nudge of his head urging everyone to look towards a huge rock formation, it almost seemed to resemble some kind of colosseum but no one could see what was inside from where they stood on the hill side.

"In there, awaits the two surprises I had waiting for you Dusk. I knew it would be worth it...all this time, I've been searching for you so you could see this. But of course, just talking about it doesn't do any type of justice. Come on everyone."

Shadow lead the way towards the formation of rocks, more sand and less grass were under their paw pads now. There was but a single entrance, it was rather small so most of the group had to crawl through besides the two pups.

Inside, was something else. It was like once they walked inside they were in a completely different place. Rocks were scaled across the inside walls making ledges like the side of cliffs where many mountain climbing Pokemon could exercise or just chill.

A beautiful calm blue river stretched across the area between patches of fresh green grass. Caves also were within this giant territory which everyone used for dens.

Everyone looked around rather amazed by the place but the feature that stood out the most happened to be the Pokemon that lived here. Mainly four Pokemon, Poochyena, Mightyena... _ **Houndour...and Houndoom…**_

* * *

 _ **Hey everyone, I really hope you enjoyed the chapter because this was one of my favorite chapters of the story and I had a blast writing it for you guys who have been following this tale since October. As always, thanks for reading and leave a review if you're interesting, it helps trust me. Anyway I hope to see ya next update and live the Write Life as always! Peace guys!**_


	13. Surprises to Come

**Midnight Hound**

 **Chapter 11: Stone Hard Truths**

 **Author's Note: Hello everyone. Welcome to Chapter 11 of the story Midnight Hound! Honestly, sorry I have been gone for so long, I am back now. As usual we're gonna get straight into the story and you will also notice I will be using a different format of writing, nothing super new though.**

 **The reason why I ran into such a stand still is because there has been a lot going on, as well as this being an important chapter to the story, I would hate to rush into that blindfolded like I usually would.**

 **I don't mean as if to say I don't think when I write but like chapter nine this will have to be a seriously thought out chapter, anyway we should just get to the story already.**

 **Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to the dudes at Game Freak and I only own my characters. Hope you all will enjoy!**

* * *

"Well Dusk...I did promise you two surprises, didn't I? Here they are. Not only did both of our packs survive, we also started living and working together! Finally right!? Things couldn't be any better!"

Though Shadow had lived this way for many years, this was all still like living in a fantasy world, and now Dusk could finally see it too..

Everybody looked around, amazed by pretty much everything that their eyes could see. Silver's expression seemed to be filled with the most joy.

"Isn't this great, Dusk!? Your pack is still here, and have more allies than they ever had alone!"

Ray and Luna looked around, noticing there were also other species around here besides the two main species. Other canines such as the Vulpix, Rockruff, Growlithe, and Eevee families, though not populating nearly as much space.

"There are also other canines that have joined us, some had no homes while others wished to train in a larger pack, whatever the case, they were allowed here like anyone else." Shadow explained, making everyone eager to explore and meet the other pokemon that inhabited the area, well, mostly everyone.

While everyone continued to look at the scene in amazement, Dusk was still silent.

He stared at each Houndour and Houndoom that would pass his vision, he just couldn't believe it, he could not believe that they were still here. Memories of his days with the pack were vivid in his mind, whether good or bad, oh how things have changed.

"Dusk, are you alright?" Silver asked also raising concern in the other members of the group.

"Yes...I feel, better than okay, actually. Home...we're here, at last."

Dusk held his head low for a moment in complete silence. Silver came close to him and raised his chin with her muzzle.

"Take a look, Dusk. You deserve to see as much as your eyes desire."

"Yeah! Silver's right!" Ray barked, it's awesome!

"It's a lot to take in, trust me. I know how it feels." Shadow said still looking at the beautiful sight that was unbothered by anyone or anything. "There are still plenty of things to come, you wouldn't believe it."

Dusk nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Who is the alpha here?" Dawn, Luna's father asked.

"We don't really have an alpha, necessarily. Everyone has equal power here and we all work together as a group. Though their are well respected leaders here who specialize in different tasks, I usually help young pups to train and hunt along with my partners, who are not going to be around for the next few days, it's better for now that you don't see why."

Everyone in the group nodded, this made the group more intrigued to see just how things would be running around here. It overall did not seem like it would be a bad place to settle down.

While Dusk found these partners that accompanied Shadow rather suspicious, he kept any of his thoughts to the back of his head for now.

"Well, may we get a look around the den?" Twilight asked to her fellow Mightyena, Shadow, who nodded in agreement.

"Right, that's what I planned next. There are a few important areas you need to know of."

He looked towards the entrance. "Of course you know the entrance here, it's normally guarded by two pokemon. The reason this isn't the case today is that everyone was already expecting me to return."

He looked over to some of the other inhabiting canines who all gave him waves and barks, he was a well known member of this pack.

"Next, there is the main area. Here. We have the river stream for drinking water, the rocks and ledges around the walls were all of the pokemon climbed were carved by our rock specialist, the Lycanroc. Which works out fine since Silver is here now, we could use another rock type canine."

Silver smiled. "I guess I know what I will be able to help with when anyone needs it."

Shadow chuckled. "Each type has their own kind of chores that get done to help our the pack, we also keep this place as clean as we can. There is a lot of space as you can see, so there is plenty of room to roam about for more active pokemon like you, Dusk."

"Sounds interesting enough, what else?" Dusk asked.

"Well if you look around, there are a lot of dens within the walls, and as you saw from outside, the walls here are pretty thick, about a minimum of fifty feet. Each den has its own pond so that the pokemon can bathe" Shadow claimed proudly. "There's also dens in the underground, we get to those simply to heading over there."

Shadow pointed over to the direction of a large cave which lead to the undergrounds dens.

"With that out of the way the last area you really need to know about is the food court of course, and honestly, I believe we're all pretty hungry, or is it just me?"

Everyone laughed before heading straight the food court area. Dusk got pretty curious about something that has been on his mind since finding out about this place.

"Shadow, just how did all of this happen? You must tell me."

"Well I suppose you deserve to know...so I'll fill you in."

* * *

 **A long time ago…**

 _Everyone was escaping the humans which were trying to destroy their homes, capturing them for whatever bloodthirsty reasons that they had with their shotguns and all of that._

 _When the Bite pokemon clan decided to make their escape, that's exactly when the Dark pokemon clan decided to escape as well as if on cue._

 _Eventually the two clans would meet, but simply did not bother to fight._

 _They made quick amends to help one another to fight them off. As they fought, they actually received the other's respect, it was actually a long war, between the two clans and the couple of humans._

 _(If they didn't have guns they wouldn't be a threat at all.)_

 _The clans found a way only by working together, and through the long time they have spent together they have made valuable allies to each other, some Mightyena's even found partners in Houndoom and vice versa._

 _They have decided it would be better to work together as equals rather than separate each other. Eventually they traveled together to the far side of Forla Island to start their lives anew, they have gained many new allies as well during this marvelous time…_

* * *

"The only thing that truly sucks is that no one even knew why the war started. All we can do now is just laugh over it, it's the past now after all and we aren't meant to dwell in time are we?"

Just as Shadow was finishing, the crew neared the food courts. This was done by going through another cave that was to the far west side of the place. There were a couple of long tunnels to go through on the way.

"So that's how it happened. A simple story for so much to come out of it, still, it makes me happy."

"Just you wait, Dusk! There are still more things that came out of it. Oh look, we're here."

The area was a large area filled with a couple dozen pokemon looking for whatever they desired to eat. There were all kinds of berries as well as meat from the members who usually hunted.

"The berries all come from the orchards that grow from the other room, we usually keep it fresh with help of our Vaporeon comrade, Vupel. You'll meet her later on."

Everyone nodded with no questions asked.

"As for the meat, like I have told you all we have specific members of the pack that go hunting, those usually who are the most fighting capable. Since the ocean is near here, catching small prey there is not truly a hassle, also we use the woods as we have passed by on our way here for other meats we may prefer, such as squirrel pokemon or you name it."

Everyone followed the evolved Bite pokemon toward the "kitchen" to where all of the meat was being cooked to perfection by the fire types.

"This job is super easy for fire types to handle, even young pups could handle this fine and have a little fun too." Shadow informed impling to Ray, who showed a big grin.

"So let's get some food first, and then I have more things to show to Dusk."

The canines grabbed meat, berries, and whatever else they wanted and sat at an empty spot in the room where they could eat. While they were busy chowing down, a group of five Houndoom strolled by and notice Shadow eating with what seemed to be a couple of new members.

The one that caught the most attention was the large Houndoom with them, though they did not see his face.

One of the hell hounds stepped up.

"Yo, Shad. I see you came back in one piece from your trip finally."

"Yes I have, I suppose you dudes haven't met my friends have you?" The Mightyena stated casually.

"Nope." The Houndoom took a peek at Dusk, and when he looked back him he pounced back as if he saw a ghost, leaving Dusk in confusion.

"Eh?" Dusk replied. The other Houndoom got a good look at Dusk's specific features, soon they had faces filled of shock as well. The others did not know what to make of the situation.

"Do you know them, Dusk?" Silver asked looking at them.

"I might, but I am not sure if I remember them."

"Dusk...I can't believe it...you're actually alive! It's me! Richard!" The Houndoom's eyes began to fill with tears as the Ice Houndoom tilted his head.

"If you don't remember me, the name's Blade. We're sorry...for all of those years that we bullied you because of you being different."

"We won't treat you like that again, we've changed. I'm Scythe if you remember."

Dusk's mind clicked as he remembered the bullies that attempted daily to ruin his life. Dusk only gave a nod.

"Don't worry about it, those days are over now and I have changed a lot myself." Dusk replied.

"I can see. You look like you have gotten a lot stronger. Who did you train with?" Asked the Houndoom whose name was Brutus. Dusk was able to tell their faces and names now.

"I'm still keeping that to myself for now."

"Oh, well that's alright. It's great seeing you again though!" The Houndoom's tail, named Razor, wagged. "We'll be sure to hang with you sometime and catch up, see ya later. C'mon boys, we need to get moving."

With that, the small group of five left to where they were heading to in the first place.

"Heh, those guys. They turned out pretty good." Shadow joked before continuing to eat, everyone else soon followed suit.

Later on the gang was finished and were back outside in the main area, the night was soon to take over the orange sky by now.

"Everywhere else you can find out later, though there aren't too many other places you need to worry about. For now everyone, just have a look around, make some friends meet me back here after nightfall. Dusk, I have other things to show you in the meantime."

Dusk looked toward Silver, who smiled and gave a nod before giving a kiss against his muzzle.

"Just have fun." She said before leaving with the others, leaving with just Shadow and Dusk behind.

"I want you to meet my parents, they always knew you were my best friend, though I didn't tell anyone about you being a Houndour until that war came around. Truth be told that was one of the reasons our two packs merged because they saw friendship was possible between us."

Dusk nodded. "I understand, where are they now?"

"They should be in their den at this time in the day if I haven't missed anything. Just follow me."

Shadow lead the way to his parents den, which was one of the higher dens. They had to scale their way up the ledges, once again expertly made by the Lycanroc, in order to advance their. That was their other purpose.

Soon they came to a particular den and Shadow stopped, it didn't look much different than the others from the outside. The two went inside and Dusk took a look around, there were many claw marks within the walls.

The two of them eventually came into a stopping point, there was a wall of wood in front of them.

"These are used to keep a bit of privacy on the other side." Shadow said to Dusk before someone called.

"Who's that?"

The voice was on the masculine side and very familiar to Shadow's ear, though he didn't hear it in days.

"Yo dad, it's your son. Mind if I come in, I got someone you should meet."

"You're always welcome in here, come in."

"You sure you're ready? Cause last time-"

"Just come in already!" The pokemon shouted making Shadow laugh and he allowed himself to enter the den, Dusk following after.

Two older Mightyena were in the den, one female, the other male.

"Shadow, you're finally back!" Said his mother as she pounced on her child licking him several times much to the amusement of his father and Dusk.

"Mom, stop! I'm not a puppy anymore!" Shadow laughed under her.

"He's right, Starlight. At least don't embarrass him while his friend is here to watch." He laughed.

"Well alright then, Dubious, Shadow, have it your way. You're still going to be my little Shadow." She stood off of Shadow like the proud mother she was. "Anyway, I am just glad you're back safe. So who's this Houndoom you have here."

"Mom, dad, I would like to introduce Dusk. My Houndour friend from long ago that I have told you about."

"Oh yeah, I remember hearing about you all the time. Heh, your friendship is part of the reason why all of this came to be." Dubious told him.

"It feels so nice to finally meet you, and what a handsome young dog you are now!" Starlight exclaimed, earning a blush from the hell hound.

"It's nice to meet the both of you as well, I gotta say. Your son is awesome, he's the only friend I had growing up, now I have many more."

Dusk bowed in respect to the two Mightyena who laughed.

"No need to be so formal, dear. You're basically part of the family now. I hope you will find your place here." Starlight said with a smile with Dubious nodding in agreement.

"Thank you, I hope so too."

"It should be getting nightfall by now, let's head back to the main area. I dreamed of this day." Shadow led the way outside. "See you later, mom and dad."

Everyone said their goodbyes and headed out to where they would meet the others, who have just finished exploring the place.

"Dusk, you wouldn't believe how cool this place is!" Ray exclaimed giving out a bark of joy along with Luna.

Silver seemed to have something on her mind that just couldn't keep her from smiling or daydreaming, before Dusk could attempt to even ask, Shadow let out a big howl to the whole pack.

Pokemon stopped what they were doing, came out their dens or any case, they all gathered toward the area, a few hundred pokemon quickly came rushing it.

"If you guys ever want to make an announcement, just howl around here. Just make sure it's actually important, you know." Shadow informed before speaking out loud to the crowd.

"My friends, allies! As I am sure most of you have noticed, I have finally returned home!"

The crowd all roared in joy as Shadow waited for the applause to dim down a little before he resumed his speech.

"After many days of hard searching, I have finally found him! My friend since my puppyhood and I special one! He's finally here along with his friends to see what a great and peaceful society we have become! It's thanks to him and friends also that Ruth, the former and cruel dictator that had control over the area has finally been killed, setting more innocent pokemon free! I proudly would like to introduce, Dusk the Houndoom!"

The crowd went to even more applause which erupted into thunderous cheers, clapping of paws and tails. Dusk and the others looked at the crowd proudly, if any place seemed like home this would be it.

"Thank you all, it's an honor to be here." Dusk said to the crowd, pure happiness beginning to overtake him.

"There's a few others that you should see, they'll be happy to see you."

"Who do you mean? Are they in the crowd?"

"No they are not, I made sure they weren't. Trust me, I think it's better this way." Shadow told him before shouting aloud. "Thank you all for your time! You may all dismiss." With that, the other pokemon were on their way to go back to what they were doing.

Many of them were saying something about "them" being really happy, no one knew who they were referring to and Shadow was quick to break up the confusion.

"Just follow me, everyone."

Shadow led the way and the others followed, all curious of who these others would be.

"Who do you think it is?" Silver asked Dusk quietly.

"I'm not sure...everything has been such a surprise that I am not even sure if I should make a guess. I find it better to just let it hit me as it comes."

The crew walked, this time to the east side of the place. Shadow pointed to a cave that was significantly higher than the others that was toward the east edge. "I saved the best for last for you, let's make our way up there."

All seven canines scaled the mountainous edges and eventually got there, it was a long path down until they finally made it to the door, it was a strange one, not like the normal wooden ones.

There was the print of a small paw within it, Dusk looked at it as if he recognized it from somewhere, it seemed to make his stomach churn and suddenly get butterflies.

"Who's in there...exactly?" Dusk whispered.

"That's for you to find out first, go on in." Shadow said encouragingly. "Trust me, it's better to go in alone first. I think that'll be better."

The others also urged him to go, even if they knew nothing about who was on the other side, they still wanted to encourage him. This would be the moment to where his past would always be laid to rest, little did the Houndoom know this was a question relating to something a certain close friend to him said a while ago.

Putting his hesitation and timidity to the back of his head, Dusk finally decided to walk inside, closing the door behind him with his tail.

* * *

 _ **Hey all! I really hope you have enjoyed this chapter and also the fact that I am not dead. XD I know this one little chapter was not worth the long wait, but I am still writing so don't worry about it! I will see you all next update and thanks for reading! Also I was thinking about taking OC request for future chapters and I honestly did not want to mess up anyone's characters, so I will tell you about that stuff in the future. Review if you want and if you do, tell me what you would like to see in later chapters.**_

 _ **Also heads up, that more mature content is coming in very soon but for those that are not into that I will warn you of that when it comes. Multiversal, signing off. Thanks for reading.**_


	14. Life with Mystery

**Midnight Hound**

 **Chapter 12: Settled Conflicts**

 **Author's Note: Heyo everyone, and welcome to Chapter 12 of my story, Midnight Hound!**

 **I won't be saying anything about this chapter, just read it, you know. Still, I am pretty sure you've guessed what was going to happen already either way so oh well. Let's get into it, shall we?**

 **Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to the people over at Game Freak, I only own my own characters. Please enjoy.**

* * *

The room was dark when Dusk entered, no torches or anything were lighting up the area like the other dens. The hound was still able to look around however thanks to his gifted night vision.

There was a lot of space in the area.

"Who are you?" Said a voice to Dusk.

Before he could turn, a couple of flamethrowers shot around the room, lighting up the torches that surrounded the room, and of course, lighting up the room.

Dusk was now face to face with a Houndoom that was even taller and bigger than he was. His bright orange eyes that seemed to burn like a wildfire bore into Dusk's red ones. He also had a claw mark within his right horn.

Some of their features, were rather similar. Their eye whites, the specific way their claws and paws were shaped...

"Name's Dusk."

"What...?"

The Houndoom looked him over, the way how his fur was an ash black and red instead of jet black and dark orange. His eyes, the way his horns and wrist braces were transparent as glace.

"N-No...you can't be him…I refuse to believe you! Don't play games about my brother you damn mutt!" The Houndoom snarled with his lips curling back and fur standing on edge.

"You're my brother…? Shade...my...big brother…"

"You...remember...I mean, know my name? I've never seen you before..."

The Houndoom name Shade calmed down a bit, but was still on his guard. Keeping his distance and ready to strike just in case.

Dusk nodded.

"I lost my memory after I escaped the gunmen, I only remembered my own name...But we used to play together, you would take me out training most of the time when I was a puppy. I even remember the day you were so lazy to get me to train...so I called mom like the baby I was…"

Dusk laughed, remembering all of the old times that he could as Shade stood up properly, seemingly speechless.

"What's...your nickname, Dusk? If you remember."

"How could I forget something like that? I never would say this but...Lil' Ice Storm."

The Houndoom held his head low, tears beginning to run freely down his face and drip onto the ground. "I...can't...believe it…"

Shade immediately pulled his little brother under him and started to sob, wrapping his hind legs around him. Dusk's eyes also began to water, this time he didn't try to hide it either. His tears flowed, like a tiny salty waterfall as he sobbed with his older bro.

"I thought I would...never see you again, Shade!"

"Me too little buddy...I will never leave you behind again...we looked everywhere for you, we thought they had you. Even when we came here...we still wouldn't stop going back...weeks after."

"I promise I won't worry you like that again, bro….I….was just so scared, for most of my life after that, I was treated like an outcast…"

"Who's that, Shade?" Said a female voice, the brothers looked toward the side of the cavern where there was a tunnel made, which Dusk hadn't noticed before.

From within the tunnel, two other Houndoom climbed. One female while the other being male, the two seemed fairly older than both Dusk and Shade.

The two let go of each other as they stared at the two larger Houndoom, who both looked toward Dusk. The male figure looked more like Shade, just a lot older and he didn't have a scar in his horn, but instead had a wound in his side that has been healed long ago.

The female on the other hand, had other, strange features. Her fur and eyes were a deep red, instead of orange. Her horns were short instead of really long, but still intimidating. The rest of her features however, were like any other Houndoom. She was the pure definition of beauty.

She walked up to Dusk, examining him, taking in his scent, and looking over every spot of his body, of course without his permission. The male looked at him, obviously quite intrigued as well.

When she finished, she took a step back, and looked at Shade, who still had tears of joy coming from his eyes.

"Mom…? Dad…?"

"Dusk! I-I can't believe my baby is still alive!"

"Jr.! You're here…! You're okay!"

Wait, Jr.? Oh well, Dusk didn't care. The whole family of four had just hugged for what seemed like an eternity...tears were shed from everyone present, there were no words to express the amount of joy they all had felt in their hearts…

They all have let of each other, Dusk's mother using her tail to hold her son's cheek.

"Dusk...I'm so glad...that you're safe...all of these years I could not stop thinking about you. I failed you, and I am sorry…"

No mom...it's my fault...I don't care anymore. I am just happy to see you all again...I don't remember your names…"

"Mine is Mist, and you're named after your father, Dusk." His mother told him.

"You've grown to be powerful, Dusk. We can see it, you must've came far from the other side of Forla to get here." Dusk Sr. said, Shade nodding an agreement.

"I have so many questions...things I need to know.

"Well, we can talk about that later...you were always so curious of everything."

Mist tried not to cry again as she spoke to her youngest son.

Everything was all so new to them, it's like they've seen the world in a different light.

"Silver was right afterall…" Dusk said to himself with a smile.

"Silver?"

"She's...erm. My girlfriend."

Dusk blushed deeply, as everyone's head peaked to attention.

"Isn't that cute? When can we meet her?" Mist asked with a smile, it made Dusk really think they were a lot alike.

"Mom...please don't call it, cute. Anyway, they're right outside with my other friends."

The ice hound went to the door and whispered something to everyone outside, soon they followed him in for their parents to see.

"Well, guys. These are my friends. Allow me to introduce everyone. I'm sure you all know Shadow already."

Everybody smiled.

"It's great to see you again, Shadow. I knew you would have something to do with this." Mist told the Mightyena, making Dusk tilt his head.

"Shadow has been very devoted to aid our search for you, he has allies in certain places that you wouldn't believe."

"Oh, I guess that is how he found us." Dusk replied. "Well anyway, this over here is Dawn, and his daughter right next to him is Luna."

The two smile as Dusk's family greeted them. Just as he was about to introduce Twilight, his mother ran up to her.

"And this must be Silver, you're girlfriend, right?"

Twilight, Silver, and Dusk all had deep awkward blushes on their faces.

"No mom, that's Twilight. Dawn's mate."

"Oh my, I am so sorry for that mistake."

Twilight and the others laughed. "Don't worry about it."

"This. Is Silver." Dusk said, wrapping his tail around the Lycanroc next to him.

Shade, Dusk Sr. (I think I will just start calling him Dusk I), and Mist's eyes all fixed on Silver, who was a bit nervous about finally seeing Dusk's family.

"Dusk, she's beautiful. I think you have chosen perfectly."

"Hi, nice to meet you all."

"Oh come here. You're basically part of our family now!" Mist exclaimed taking Silver into her arms, when she thought about it, she didn't receive a hug from an older female figure in years since her mother has been gone, she greatly took the hug.

"You know...Dusk has told me I reminded him a lot of you." The Lycanroc told Mist, much to the embarrassment of Dusk.

"Oh did he? Aw, I didn't know Jr. was a sweet talker."

Silver giggled a bit. "You're a Jr., Dusk?"

"Yeah...I should have told you their names are Mist and Dusk. Also that is my brother over there, Shade."

"And who is this cute little fella?" Mist implied about the Vulpix puppy.

"That's Silver's little brother, Ray."

"We'll he's just adorable!" She nuzzled his neck, which made him laugh though he did not try to. "So you didn't start thinking about puppies?"

"Mom! What the heck! You're saying things like I am still a child."

Dusk blushed deeply as well as Silver, both not looking at each other.

"C'mon, he's right mom. Just give him a little bit of privacy." Shade told her with a laugh.

"Alright, alright. I'll talk about it later." She said rolling her eyes.

* * *

The next few hours have been spent by simply catching up on old times, talking about each others lives and what they have been doing for the past couple of years.

"So Shadow, have you given them all dens yet?" Dusk I asked.

"Actually, I believe the Lycanroc should be done with the Mightyena family's den already, as for Dusk's, it'll take a little longer to finish."

"Well. You guys can stay in my place until your den gets done." Shade suggested to Dusk, Silver, and Ray.

"Thank you, that's very generous." Silver said with a smile.

Ray gave a large yawn. "I'm tired...can I go to sleep now…?"

Shade chuckled. "Sure, little dude."

Shade lifted the fox up over his back making him bark with excitement. Silver stood up prepared to follow.

"Dusk before you go, I need to talk to you." Mist said standing up. "Shade, just wait here a little longer. Follow me, Dusk."

His mother went back over to the tunnel she appeared from, Dusk following, and they both exited. The tunnel led back outside of the walls back onto the beach. They both sat at the shoreline, the waves washing over each other's paws.

"What is it, mom?"

"Well, I believe I should tell you about...well, you. Why you are so different from everybody else."

"I've wanted to ask you about it too, and you look more like me than Shade or dad, so I thought you would have some answers."

Mist nodded.

"Your ice abilities come from your hidden power, if you don't know about it, every pokemon has hidden power that they can access by using that move. Each pokemon's move has a different type based on traits they may have gained from their parents, personality, and other factors."

"I have heard of it, but how am I able to use almost every ice type move and ability, as any other ice type."

"There is more to it. Only few pokemon have access to their full hidden power, such as you who must have learned to master your abilities. As well as your physical strength, I don't need to see you fight to know how much potential you have."

"I see...but where did they come from?"

"As you can see by my looks, I am also not a normal Houndoom, but I was still able to teach you some of your ice type moves when I have learned you could not use fire. This started with your great grandfather actually, who unfortunately is not with us to this day. His hidden type was electric, my father's was fighting, mine's is water, and yours is ice."

"This is confusing...you mean to say there's no consistently with our family tree? How is this all possible?"

"It was actually not supposed to be possible at all, or so I thought. Your great grandfather was a traveler, meeting and teaming up with many allies on his journeys. Sadly I know nothing else, he has only said it suddenly happened, when he lost the ability to breath fire. He easily mastered his electrokinesis, he was able to do nearly anything. He had abilities that you wouldn't believe."

"So he was able to use moves such as Thunder and Volt Tackle?"

"Yes, Dusk...but there was so much more he could do with the power, more than he could do with just fire alone. He was able to teach electric types, fire types, and dark types alike all sorts of things, ways to use their power to the absolute limit. Our line sort of became like sages, and even though we couldn't breath fire we could always still teach it."

"Wait...I was able to unlock Ray's hidden fire power one day...even if I have never learned to breath fire."

"You see what I mean now...there's so much I can teach you. It's time you became one of us, Dusk. There are hidden secrets within every pokemon's line, and this is ours."

"I understand, mom. Thank you, for telling about this…I want to learn all about this from you, something I did not have the chance to do for years…"

"We will train together soon, Dusk. For now, relax. I can see it through your eyes how much you went through, you seem like a person who isn't likely to take a break. You're here, with your family and friends now. Relax, and worry about getting used to here."

The two of them hugged.

"Goodnight...Dusk...I am glad you're safe….and home…"

Mist licked his head lovingly.

"Me too, mom…"

* * *

 **Alright, I know that was not a long chapter but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you like our Houndoom's family, it's been eleven chapters filled with Jr.'s adventure, and it seems the long and hard journey finally proved worth it. (Jr., heheh.) Anyway, you'll be seeing more of them soon because now there are even more mysteries to solve, and what is up with Dusk's family tree?**

 **Well I guess we all will be finding out on the next Midnight Hound! Review if ya want to. Bye bye everyone.**

 **(Hard to believe I actually planned on keeping them...uh...gone.)**


	15. Update

Hi guys, long time no see. I've been gone for quite a while haven't I? Okay, I won't waste time beating around the bush, let's get down to business. My followers have a right to know that I have been dead, as well as the reason why. To keep it short, my laptop broke, school and work has been in the way but I feel wrong for leaving you all hanging. I promise I will make my absence up to you all, but not on this account. I am no longer Multiversal, I am on a new account, named Nocturnal Novelist. I will rewrite Midnight Hound and Call from another World on this new account somewhere within the next month. If you want a link to this account, just check the bio on my profile. Anyway, I have no clue how many of you are still sticking around, but if you are, I promise I will try and make it worth it. I have nothing else to really speak about, so if you want to ask me anything, just PM me at this account or my new one, I am not the fastest replyer but I will try to answer any questions as soon as I can. See you all another day. Thanks for reaing this.


End file.
